Prunus incisa Yamadei - Cherry

The Prunus incisa 'Yamadei' is an alternate variety of cherry tree from Japan, interesting for its small development,  its dense and bushy habit, and its early flowering, which starts at the end of winter or in early spring. This variety produces numerous single bell-shaped flowers, pure white in colour, for 3 to 4 weeks before the leaves appear. Its foliage, before falling, turns to beautiful shades of yellow-orange, adding to the charm of this absolutely delightful bush. Easy to fit into a small garden or a large pot on the terrace, it is cultivated without difficulty in the sun, in ordinary but well-drained soil. 

The Prunus incisa, commonly called Dwarf Japanese Flowering Cherry, is a hardy tree of modest size, belonging to the large family of Rosaceae. In its natural environment, it is found on the slopes of Mount Fuji in Japan. The cultivar 'Yamadei', discovered on Mount Fuji in 1916, shows particularly reduced growth, slow growth, and shallow rooting, well suited for container cultivation. At maturity, it will not exceed 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in all directions, and after 20 years, it will barely reach 4 m (13 ft 1 in) in height. With a naturally bushy and dense habit, it develops a very short trunk and a very rounded crown, carried by a reddish-brown branching pattern appreciated by bonsai enthusiasts. The flowering takes place very early in spring, from March to April, but sometimes as early as February in milder climates. The flowers, produced profusely, bloom before the leaves, suspended by a short peduncle on a well-defined branch. They emerge from white buds and then open into simple, bell-shaped, white corollas, without any trace of pink. This flowering attracts pollinating insects that allow the flowers to transform into small reddish cherries, sought after by birds, but not edible for humans. The deciduous foliage is composed of alternate leaves, 3 to 6 cm (1.2 to 2.4 in) long, ovate in shape, finely and deeply toothed at the edges. They are light green in summer, before turning yellow-orange to red in autumn in this Yamadei variety.

Its sinuate line drawn by sinuous branches makes the flowering cherry suitable for bonsai cultivation. With slow growth, this small tree, a symbol of renewal, is suitable for small gardens as well as container cultivation on a terrace. You can plant it in a flower bed or in isolation, as a free-standing hedge, and also in rows. 'Yamadei', not demanding, is content with well-prepared ordinary soil, tolerates heat and the presence of limestone in the soil without excess. It can be grown in most regions, from north to south. For example, in a hedge or flower bed, it can be associated with other spring-flowering shrubs, either simultaneously or staggered, such as Japanese apricots (Prunus mume), ornamental apple trees, Japanese quinces, flowering peaches, Chinese almond, hawthorns... It naturally has its place in a Japanese garden, with sunny exposure.