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Guide to the Cherry Tree Collection
Text by Betsy Kissam. Photographs, unless otherwise noted, from Japanese Flowering Cherries by Wybe Kuitert (courtesy Timber Press).
Varieties and Locations
- Prunus 'Hally Jolivette'
- Prunus 'Okame'
- Prunus sargentii
- Prunus sargentii 'Fudansakura'
- Prunus 'Kanzan'
- Prunus serrulata
- Prunus serrulata 'Ariake'
- Prunus serrulata 'Hatazakura'
- Prunus serrulata 'Horinji'
- Prunus serrulata 'Kiku-shidare'
- Prunus serrulata 'Ojochin'
- Prunus serrulata 'Shogetsu'
- Prunus serrulata var. spontanea
- Prunus serrulata 'Taihaku'
- Prunus serrulata 'Taki-Nioi'
- Prunus serrulata 'Taoyame'
- Prunus serrulata 'Ukon'
- Prunus 'Shiro-fugen'
- Prunus 'Shirotae'
- Prunus subhirtella and Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula'
- Prunus × yedoensis
- Prunus × yedoensis 'Akebono'
- Prunus 'Accolade'
- Prunus 'Amanogawa'
- Prunus × dawyckensis
- Prunus × hillieri 'Spire'
- Prunus hirtipes
- Prunus pilosiuscula
- Prunus serrulata 'Hizakura'
- Prunus serrulata 'Kuramayama'
- Prunus serrulata 'Uzuzakura'
- Prunus × sieboldii
- Prunus 'Snowgoose'
- Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis'
- Prunus subhirtella 'Rosy Cloud'
Where the Cherries Are
Cherry Esplanade
This broad green field is planted with 76 specimens of the dazzling Prunus 'Kanzan'. Cherries typically live 25 to 30 years, and those that succumb are replaced immediately. Two trees were planted in 1970 and are currently the oldest on Cherry Esplanade.
Cherry Walk
A gently meandering path, east of Cherry Esplanade and behind the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. The cherries here, also 'Kanzan', were first purchased from a Long Island nursery in 1921; two from the original planting still survive.
Cherry Cultivars Area
Mixed varieties of oriental flowering cherries are planted in this area between Cherry Walk and Cherry Esplanade.
Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden
Prunus specimens thrive throughout the Japanese Garden, in particular the delicate weeping higan cherries, Prunus subhirtella 'Pendula'.
Plant Family Collection
The oldest cherry tree in the Garden is in the Plant Family Collection—Prunus pilosiuscula, planted in 1912. Many other varieties are found on the Plant Family Collection's Prunus Lawn and Prunus Triangle, in the central area of the Garden, west of the Palm House entrance.
Other Locations
Several flowering cherries are planted in the Osborne Garden, including a magnificent pair of Prunus 'Shiro-fugen' near the Eastern Parkway entrance. You'll also find cherries planted on the Overlook slope, near the Herb Garden and the Fragrance Garden, by the Perennial Border adjacent to Lily Pool Terrace, adjacent to the Bonsai House—indeed, just about everywhere at BBG.
When Do They Bloom?
Oriental flowering cherries bloom at the Garden from late March or early April through mid-May.
The very first to bloom coincide with the burst of blossoms on Daffodil Hill and in Magnolia Plaza. At that time look for Prunus 'Okame' in the Cherry Cultivars area and Prunus hirtipes (formerly Prunus conradinae) in the Plant Family Collection. This can be as early as mid-March or as late as mid-April.
No one species or cultivar blooms continuously for more than a week, but the 42 varieties within the 52 acres here allow for a most enchanting long-term display. Temperature, precipitation, and other variations of weather all contribute to early or late blooming; these same vagaries determine how long the blossoms linger.