Wednesday Street Tree #18
Winter-flowering cherry
It had to happen sooner or later, and so here it is: the winter-flowering cherry. In London, there has been a lot of enthusiasm for planting these trees in the last few years, and now they are common right across town. They are a heartening sight in the depths of winter when they can be relied on to bloom, even if they are a little shy (they are not up there with some of the show-off spring flowering species for instance). But, rather than put on a magnificent show for a few days, winter-flowering cherries keep on flowering from November – starting even before their last autumn leaves have fallen – and continue right the way through until April.
One thing I have noticed about London’s street tree population, is that as they are starting to mature, they tend to be rather awkward, perhaps this is just their difficult teenage years, but I suspect the clones that have been planted so abundantly just might be rather poor quality. I have seen a few examples of these trees, in parks and gardens for instance, where they take on a far more classical cherry silhouette, with neater, spreading crowns. Time will tell…
I wrote some more about winter-flowering cherries on my old school blog a few years ago if you’re keen to read more. Click here for the full story.
What is it?
Winter-flowering cherry
Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’
Where is it?
Tavistock Terrace, London N19 4BZ
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