Use our cheat sheet to help you identify spring blossom - even from a moving car!
Or perhaps to help choose just the right one for a dreamy spring display in your garden.
Crabapple
Malus ioensis
ID: Profuse crimson buds open to single white blossoms on the leafless tree.
Grow: gets to 8 x 8m and makes a handsome shade tree in warm and cool climates. Prefers good rich soil and supplementary summer watering.
No pruning needed. The fruit makes delicious jelly!
Photo - Hiyoman / Shutterstock.com
Flowering peach
Prunus persica
ID: There are a couple of different forms: ‘Albo plena’ is white; ‘Klara Mayer’ is double pink; ‘Versicolour’ is smaller than the others
and is red and white.
Grow: suited to cool and warm climates in moist, well-drained, fertile soils in full sun or part-shade. Flowers best when pruned immediately
after flowering. Spray to prevent leaf curl. Grows 4m x 4m.
Photo - Olha Insite / Shutterstock.com
Weeping cherry
Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’
ID: Curtains of flowers reminiscent of pale pink lace spill from a single trunk, grafted at 2m for 10-days in spring. ‘Snow Fountain’
has single white blossom and grows to 2.5m. ‘Rosea’ is pink and spreads to 4m.
Grow: For cool climate gardens. Makes a lovely avenue or feature tree with spring bulbs planted beneath. Remove any growth from below
the graft.
Flowering pear
Pyrus calleryana
ID: This family of ornamental trees produces white spring blossom and glorious autumn foliage. ‘Aristocrat’ grows to an 11m x 7m oval.
‘Chanticleer’ is a columnar 10m x 5m.
Grow: Good in warm and cool climate gardens. Not fussy about soil but improved rich soil will produce a better tree. Moderate to fast
growth rate. No pruning needed. No edible fruit.
Photo - Hikanzakura / Shutterstock.com
Taiwan cherry
Prunus campanulata
ID: This upright, vase-shaped, small tree, 4m x 3m, is the first of the blossoms into flower with cerise, bell-shaped blooms in late July.
Grow: Great for small gardens, especially Japanese style gardens, in subtropical, warm and cool zones Hardy, no need for pruning, feeding
or spraying, attracts honey-eaters.
Photo- Chocosummer / Shutterstock.com
Cherry plum
Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’
ID: With darker foliage than the flowering plum this features shell pink blossom with a prominent boss of dark stamens.
Grow: This small tree, 5m x 4m, develops a rounded crown. Tolerates warm and cool conditions and dry soils. No pruning needed.
Dwarf flowering almond
Prunus glandulosa
ID: This multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub (1m x 1m) is smothered with shaggy blossoms. 'Alba' is a single white; 'Alba Plena' is a double
white; 'Rosea Plena’ is double pink.
Grow: Is fantastic as an informal hedge in full sun. Plant the graft union well below soil level to encourage suckering. Prune to the
ground after flowering. Suited to Asian style gardens.
We hope you have enjoyed this article so far.
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