Prunus Ichiyo (Japanese Flowering Cherry)

With flowers resembling a ballerina's petticoat, award-winning Prunus 'Ichiyo' is a small deciduous tree of spreading habit, with gracefully ascending main branches. Opening from pink buds, profuse double, shell pink flowers appear in mid to late spring. Held in pendulous long-stalked clusters of 3-4 flowers, they fade to almost white as they age. The blooms are quite large, up to 2 in. across (5 cm), and they count up to 16-22 petals, nicely arranged around an open heart. Emerging pale bronze-green, the leaves turn deep green in summer to create a fresh canopy and turn orange and red in fall. A healthy, rather late Flowering Cherry that makes a wonderfully spreading tree and is perfect for large gardens.