You know spring has arrived in the US when the nightly news covers the cherry blossoms in full bloom in our capitol city’s Tidal Basin. It’s an annual ritual each spring: Crowds of people stroll the walk along the water to pass under the Yoshino cherries and admire their beautiful, ephemeral display. Truth be told, it’s breathtaking! But why only visit such an amazing sight? You can usher in spring the same way Washingtonians do with a few Yoshino cherries of your own!
The Yoshino cherry blossom display along the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, is a national rite of spring!
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
The tree’s springtime blooms are typically a soft, muted pink.
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
Young Yoshino cherries are fast-growing and put on a good show.
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
Also known as Prunus x yedoensis, Yoshino cherry has a beauty and delicacy of form and flower that’s hard to beat. Even as the flowers fade into memory, the petals rain down in a gorgeous blizzard sufficient to sustain the heart and soul until spring arrives again.
While small – in the 25- to 30-foot range in height and spread – Yoshino cherries do need a little space to perform their best. Like most cherries, they’re low-branched with brownish twigs and branches. The limbs are marked with characteristic horizontal lines that are found on all cherries, caused by a distortion in the bark due to the presence of lenticels (glands that provide air exchange for the trunk). Indeed, the entire tree is a treat for the eye, but it’s the five-petaled flowers that garner the most acclaim for this beauty.
Blooms usually appear in early to mid-April and are mostly pale pink or white, depending on the variety. The flowers are slightly fragrant and about the size of a quarter. They’re borne in a cluster of four blooms on inch-long peduncles.
Yoshino cherries have elliptical, dark-green leaves about 4 ½ inches long with serrated edges. They’ll take on a reliable yellow fall color with shades of pinkish-red and orange. The egg-shaped fruit, if produced, is a shining black and about a half-inch long with a large pit. While it’s edible, Yoshino cherries are really just grown for the flowers.
There are some great cultivars to choose from, as well as hybrids with yoshino cherry as one of the parents. ‘Akebono’ has soft-pink flowers and a rounded form. ‘Afterglow’ has slightly darker pink flowers and a more upright form. The hybrid Prunus 'Snofozam'(SNOW FOUNTAINS®) is a lovely white-flowered, weeping form with attractive fall color.‘Pink Shell’ and ‘White Fountain’ are weeping forms.
No matter which variety you pick for your garden, your Yoshino cherry needs full sun and well-drained, fertile soil. In fact, soil is so important that it can actually influence how long your tree lives! (Flowering cherries have a reputation of being short-lived in the landscape, especially if soil drainage conditions are not to their liking.) Typically these beauties last 30-40 years, but the cherries surrounding the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC, lasted 60-70 years before the ravages of weather and age necessitated their replacement.
While Yoshino cherries are from Japan, there’s hardly a more American way to ring in spring here in the States! No matter which variety you choose – they’re a shoo-in to chase away the winter blues!
