Other Names:  Ornamental Cherry

Description:

A beautiful spring flowering accent tree, featuring single dark pink flowers before the leaves, attractive reddish-brown bark and a strongly upright, almost columnar habit of growth; needs full sun and well-drained soil

Ornamental Features

First Lady Flowering Cherry is smothered in stunning clusters of fragrant pink flowers along the branches in early spring before the leaves. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The pointy leaves turn an outstanding yellow in the fall. The fruits are showy black drupes displayed in mid summer. The smooth dark red bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

First Lady Flowering Cherry is a deciduous tree with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

First Lady Flowering Cherry is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Shade

Planting & Growing

First Lady Flowering Cherry will grow to be about 25 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 14 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 4 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more.

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.