Popular Flowering Cherry Breeds
Prunus 'Mount Fuji', a.k.a. 'Hosokawa' or 'Shirotae' is one of the first of the flowering cherries to bloom. It bears large (up to 2 inches across), semi-double fragrant flowers of pure white that fade to purplish pink. 'Mount Fuji' is on the small side for a flowering cherry; although a wide-spreading tree (to 25 feet), it grows to only 20 feet, making it a fine choice for a yard.
Prunus 'Okame' is another early-blooming flowering cherry. It bears a profusion of cup-shaped, true pink flowers (up to 1 inch across) in clusters of 2 to 5 in early spring. 'Okame' also provides good leaf color in fall; its leaves turn orange and red. This bushy tree grows to a height of 30 feet with a spread of 25 feet.
The flowering cherry that you admire as you stroll about in the spring is most likely Prunus 'Kanzan', a.k.a. 'Kwanzan'. In mid- and late spring, it bears a profusion of large (two inches across), rosy pink, fully double flowers before and after the leaves emerge. 'Kanzan' is stiffly vase-shaped when young, but spreads wider as it ages, with a height and spread of 30 feet at maturity.
Prunus 'Accolade' blooms at the same time as 'Kanzan'; it bears clusters of pale pink, semi-double flowers, not as large as 'Kanzan's', (1½ inches across) but still very beautiful. The flowers open from dark pink buds. 'Accolade' has a height and spread of 25 feet at maturity.
Last on this short list is Prunus 'Amanogawa', which bears clusters of semi-double, fragrant, shell pink flowers 1½ inches across in mid-spring. 'Amanogawa' is also an interesting tree in fall, when it carries red, yellow and green leaves at the same time. It's also different from the other cherries on this list because it has a columnar form, growing to 25 feet tall with a spread of only 12 feet.
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