Prunus ‘Ichiyo’ (Japanese Flowering Cherry)

With flowers resembling a ballerina’s petticoat, award-winning Prunus ‘Ichiyo’ is a small deciduous tree of spreading habit, with gracefully ascending main branches. Opening from pink buds, profuse double, shell pink flowers appear in mid to late spring. Held in pendulous long-stalked clusters of 3-4 flowers, they fade to almost white as they age. The blooms are quite large, up to 2 in. across (5 cm), and they count up to 16-22 petals, nicely arranged around an open heart. Emerging pale bronze-green, the leaves turn deep green in summer to create a fresh canopy and turn orange and red in fall. A healthy, rather late Flowering Cherry that makes a wonderfully spreading tree and is perfect for large gardens.

‘Ichiyo’ means ‘one-leaf’ in Japanese, in reference to the presence of a leaf-like pistil in the flower’s heart. Closely related to the Oshima Cherry, it has been found in Japan since the early 19th century. Its blossoms used to be salted and pressed to make a cherry-flavored hot drink in ancient Japan.

• Recipient of the prestigious Award of Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society
• Grows vigorously with a vase-shaped habit up to 15-20 ft. tall and wide (4-6 m).
• Performs best in full sun in moist, relatively fertile, well-drained soils.
• Perfect choice as a single specimen plant, lawns.
• Prune in midsummer if silver leaf is a problem
• Watch for caterpillars, leaf-mining moths, bullfinches, silver leaf, bacterial canker, and blossom wilt.
• Propagate by greenwood cuttings in early summer, chip budding in the summer, or grafting in early spring.