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Great Plants this Month

Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ AGM

Louse Sims

This is undoubtedly a well known and popular cherry, and deservedly so; but somehow I overlooked it until a few years ago when, right time, right place, I found I had a gap for a spring flowering shrub and it fitted the bill perfectly.

Compact, slow growing and twiggy in an architectural sort of way, in early spring it is covered in masses of dainty, white (flushed pink) flowers giving the whole plant an almost ethereal quality. This belies its resilience (very hardy) and ease of cultivation. It’s known as the Fuji cherry and how beautiful it must look growing on the misty slopes of Mount Fuji.

Its flowers are subtle, which is more than can be said of some of the brasher pink cherries, and they are all the more striking for appearing on bare twigs. The leaves, with serrated (incised) edges, make their very important contribution later in the year when they take on every imaginable autumnal hue.

It is the perfect choice for a small garden, and I’d love to try one in a pot.

As I write this I have made a note to remind me to move some chionodoxa, so that next year, underneath our Fuji cherry, there will be a carpet of blue to complete the picture.

NB Louise has published a beautifully produced book of her plant profiles – A Plant for Each Week of the Year. It costs £9.99 inc P & P and is for sale in our online shop here.

More NB If you’d like a bit more gardening chitchat from the3growbags, please type your email address here and we’ll send you a new post every Saturday morning.

By the3growbags

We're three sisters who love gardening, plants and even the science of horticulture but we're not all experts. We'd love everyone even remotely interested in their gardens to be part of our blogsite.

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