Across the continent and around the world, flowering cherries are a burst of spring, a sure sign that winter is in the rearview mirror. The show begins right around the vernal equinox that marks the first day of spring, March 20. There’s no better time to choose a flowering cherry (or several!) for your garden – unless it’s in autumn, when their leaves turn to brilliant shades of orange, red, and yellow.
Hanami is the ancient Japanese tradition of cherry blossom viewing. In Japan, and around the world, crowds gather beneath the flower-laden branches of ornamental cherries to enjoy their fleeting beauty while socializing, eating, drinking and celebrating the arrival of Sakura (cherry blossoms) that signal the arrival of spring.
You can start your own hanami tradition by choosing and planting flowering cherries in your landscape – whether a public park, a commercial landscape, or a private courtyard. Their pink or white blooms kick off a delightful, year-round show of flowers, lush summer foliage, bright orange-to-red fall color and unique winter form.
Sakura season is a perfect time to discover the best flowering cherries for your garden. Visit a local Japaese garden, botanical garden or public park to see what’s in bloom. Check out local garden centers to find trees that grow best in your area. In general, flowering cherries are adaptable, easy-care trees and are tougher than their delicate pink to white spring blooms might imply. They perform best in well-drained soil but will tolerate clay if drainage is adequate. Once established, they are reasonably drought tolerant, but perform best with watering during dry weather. Full sun, good air circulation, and the selection of disease-resistant cultivars are the best protection against foliage diseases.
Some of the best places to see cherry blossoms in Europe are presented in this National Geographic guide to seven European sites. Find more sites around the world in this guide. Morton Arboretum offers a Cherry Blossom Adventure class, and the cherry blossom display at Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Hanami Nights are always delightful. Portland area parks offer great hanami sites.
Local author and painter Amy Stewart reflects on last year’s cherry blossom viewing (and sketching) at Portland’s famous riverfront cherry grove in her current newsletter for subscribers to her Substack site: The Seven Stages of Cherry Blossom Anticipation.
Among the most famous of these is the National Cherry Blossom Festival that takes place in Washington, D. C. in March and April. Thanks to a 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the Mayor of Tokyo, the Tidal Basin in our nation’s capital is resplendent in cherry blossoms each spring. More than 1.5 million visitors converge on the city to experience the magic of hanami.
Yoshino Cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) was the primary gift tree. It has become one of the most widely planted flowering cherry cultivars in the U. S. Developed in Japan in about 1870, it is famous for its gracefully spreading canopy and arching branches that support clouds of fragrant white blossoms.
Some of the trees blooming today at the Tidal Basin are offspring of the original gift trees that were in decline after 80 years in the landscape. As described in this 1999 article, Cherry Blossoms – Restoring a National Treasure, the U. S. National Arboretum effort to identify the original trees via DNA fingerprinting, and the propagation of new replacement trees, was supported by the J. Frank Schmidt Family Charitable Trust.
Sacramento, California, is becoming a hanami destination, too, thanks to a massive planting of flowering cherry trees at the waterfront Robert Matsui Park and Hanami Line. The planting of 28 of our Pink Flair® Cherries in the city’ Sakura Grove in 2017 was featured in The Sacramento Bee: Sacramento tree canopy to get new hue. More than 100 additional Pink Flair® Cherries were planted in 2024 and are poised for their first full year of bloom this spring.
Akebono Cherry
Prunus x yedoensis ‘Akebono’
Soft pink blooms are breathtaking when viewed against grey or blue springtime skies. Slightly smaller in stature than Yoshino, its improved resistance to brown rot blossom blight makes it a top choice for rainy springtime climates, according to the University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Discovered by San Jose, California, nurseryman W.B. Clarke in about 1920, this seedling of Yoshino is a Great Plant Pick for the maritime Pacific Northwest and is widely sold across the continent.
Pink Flair® Cherry
Prunus sargentii ‘KW-58’
Big clusters of bright pink, single flowers burst from the upright branches of this compact, narrowly vase-shaped tree that’s a good fit for today’s landscapes. Dark green, healthy foliage withstands the heat of summer and periods of drought. Orange-red fall color is consistently bright and long lasting. Upright symmetry lends winter appeal, along with distinctive, polished brown bark that is accented by tannish-cream lenticels.
A standout for disease resistance, it is also significantly hardier than other pink-flowering cherries. Selected from seed collected from Hokkaido, Japan, it has proven hardy through Zone 3b. Offering the best cold hardiness and resistance to cherry foliage diseases, it is a popular choice for Pacific Northwest and New England landscapes and is even a recommended street tree for Fargo, North Dakota. Blooms avoid frost damage by appearing a week or two later than is typical of the species.
Michael Dirr and Keith Warren, authors of The Tree Book name it among their favorite ornamental cherries and recommend it as a proven performer in the Southeast as well. Sargent Cherry and Columnar Sargent Cherry are older selections of P. sargentii that may be more readily available, but Pink Flair® is worth the extra effort to locate and grow.
Pink Myst® Cherry
Prunus sargentii ‘JFS KW21PS’ PP 32619
Bright pink flowers smother the branches of this unique new cultivar in springtime. Blooms are distinctively darker in color than the blooms of Sargent Cherry and other cultivars. Its form is narrower and more upright than is typical of the species. Upright oval in form, it matures to a height and spread of approximately 30’ x 15’. Disease-resistant foliage maintains its rich, dark green color through the summer months and turns to lovely shades of orange and red in autumn. Hardiness is USDA Zone 4.
Pink Cascade® Cherry
Prunus ‘NCPH1’ PP 27579
The first of the flowering cherries to bloom in the J. Frank Schmidt Jr. Arboretum, this standout tree presents cascades of large, bright pink, bell-shaped flowers that flow along its branches in early spring. Fragrant blooms are followed by healthy, dark green, refined foliage that turns bright orange red in autumn. This all-season beauty offers gracefully weeping branches that etch their dark outline against winter skies. Whether bare or covered with snow or twinkly holiday lights, they provide artful structure in any landscape setting.
Reminiscent in form and foliage of the popular white-blooming Snow Fountains® Cherry, this new weeping tree offers improved resistance to foliage diseases, vigorous growth and ease of care in the nursery and in the landscape. Developed by Dr. Tom Ranney of North Carolina State University, this hybrid of ‘First Lady’ and Snow Fountains® blooms early and offers superior heat and disease resistance.
First Blush® Cherry
Prunus ‘JFS KW14’ PP 28248
Bright, double pink flowers smother the slender branches of this very narrow, upright cherry in early spring. Its fully double flowers attract human admirers along with hummingbirds and other pollinators. Bloom time is earlier than most cherries, but a little later than Okame Cherry, a lovely hybrid of P. campanulata, to which it is related.
The breathtaking floral display gives way to petite, dark green, finely textured, disease-resistant leaves that turn bright orange to orange red in autumn. Fall color is late and long lasting. Its upright, narrow oval shape is well suited for planting in small gardens and courtyards and is narrow enough for street use. Mature height and spread are approximately 25’ x 12’.
To assist you in your hanami quest, you can view all of our ornamental and fruiting cherry offerings by sorting for Cherry in our online Tree Guide.
Gardeners! Please note that our nursery is strictly wholesale. To purchase these and other trees grown by our nursery, please use our Retailer Locator to find sources of JFS trees near you.
