Yoshino cherry

Photo: 松岡明芳 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Survives zone 5 through 8

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Grown almost exclusively as an ornamental for its profuse, faintly fragrant white-to-pale-pink spring blossom (famous in Washington, D.C. and Tokyo); the classic 'Somei-Yoshino' clone is a sterile interspecific hybrid that sets little to no viable fruit, so it is not grown for eating. ⚠ Kernels/pits cyanogenic.

Hardiness

Zone 5–8

Habit

Tree

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer–autumn

Mature size

Tree 8–12 m, broad-crowned

Light

Full sun

Soil pH

6.0–7.0 (near-neutral)

Environment

Garden origin

Native range

The 'Somei-Yoshino' cultivar originated as an artificial hybrid in the Somei district of Edo (Tokyo), Japan, in the mid-19th century; a genetically distinct wild population also occurs naturally on Jeju Island, Korea, arising independently from local hybridization between Prunus spachiana and Prunus serrulata relatives.

Status

Ornamental

Years to fruit

2–4 yrs

Growth speed

Fast — often over 60 cm/year in youth

Spacing

900 cm (354 in) apart — about 81 m² (872 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Elliptic to ovate leaves 6–11 cm long with serrated margins, bright green turning yellow-gold in autumn.

Root system

Worth knowing that in cultivation this is usually the rootstock's root system, not the species' — most Prunus are sold grafted, and vigour, suckering and soil tolerance follow the stock rather than the top. On its own roots the species is shallow-rooted, with the bulk in the top 40–60 cm spreading well beyond the canopy, so it dislikes cultivation underneath and competes badly with grass.

Fruit description

Small black drupes about 1.3 cm across appear in early summer, but are produced sparsely or not at all since most cultivated clones are self-sterile.

Propagation

Because the classic clone is a sterile interspecific hybrid producing few or no viable seeds, it is propagated almost exclusively by budding or grafting onto Prunus avium (vigorous, tolerant of wetter soils) or Prunus mahaleb (more drought-tolerant, producing smaller trees); softwood cuttings with bottom heat can also succeed.

Pollination

The classic 'Somei-Yoshino' clone is a self-sterile interspecific hybrid that sets little to no viable fruit regardless of a second tree — grown from grafted stock, not for pollination-dependent fruiting

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.