Plant of the Month March - the Spring Cherry

This year the spring cherry is our insider tip among the early bloomers. Because you get to enjoy its wonderful bloom twice. During its main flowering season in March/April, it is lavishly decorated with white-pink, semi-double flowers. And depending on the weather, the spring cherry is apt to surprise you anytime from November on, with a (slightly more delicate) secondary flowering.

 

 

The elegant growth of Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis' makes it a perfect solitary plant for the garden. This large shrub grows between one and several stems and can stretch up to 5m high and wide. Its overhanging branches lend it a natural umbrella shape. The foliage of the winter cherry is a fresh green, ovoid, and turns a bright yellow-orange to brown-red colour in autumn.

 

 

The winter cherry is a soil-tolerant plant, but one that needs a sunny location. It is chalk-loving and thrives best in deep, nutrient-rich garden soils. Like other ornamental cherries, Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis' should only be cut as needed, or when it grows beyond the space which you've allocated it. The winter cherry does not need regular maintenance pruning.