Some grow small and compact, others grow tall and provide shade, some produce cherries while others are strictly ornamental. All varieties of this flowering tree will grow well when planted in full sun and well draining soil, but certain varieties do better in certain climates and growing zones. These four are the best cherry trees to grow in the southern climate and soil.
Weeping Cherry
All varieties of the weeping cherry tree grow pendulous-style branches, but that is where their similarity ends. The flowers might be pink or white: single or double blooms. The tree may be a grafted onto a Higan cherry root stock (P. x subhirtella) or it may be grown on it’s own root stock. The weeper may grow to look like an up-shooting fountain or give a more formal look with branches cascading down to the ground, either can reach a mature height of 12 feet or 40 feet. Fall foliage is also spectacular on a weeping cherry tree. With leaves that turn either golden yellow or orange. Make sure you are purchasing the variety of weeping cherry tree that you want for your landscape.
Yoshino
The star of annual cherry festival in Washington, D. C. and other spring celebrations around the south, the Yoshino flowering cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) is fast growing and starts producing blooms the first spring after planting. Yoshino cherry trees will reach a mature size of about 35 feet tall and wide and produce clouds of pinkish-white blooms each spring before the branches leaf out. Fall foliage colors range from yellow to reddish-brown.
Okame
This is the ornamental flowering tree that signals the arrival of spring in the south. Okame cherry trees (P. okame) blooms at different times each spring, often as early as Valentine’s Day. Producing thousands of deep pink blooms on leafless branches, the tree will grow to a mature size of about 20 feet tall and wide, growing into a neat oval shape. Okame is heat tolerant and does exceptionally well in the hot, humid, drought-prone southern climate. This ornamental tree produces orange-red fall foliage and it’s bark turns a glossy reddish-brown color as part of its fall color display. ‘Kwanzan’ (P. serrulata) blooms in late spring after the branches have begun to leaf out. This flowering ornamental will reach a mature height of about 30 feet and grow in a vase-shape pattern, leaving planty of head-room under its glossy, deep green leafed branches. Fall foliage is reddish-brown in color. You can find ‘Kwanzan’ cherry trees available from the Perfect Plants Nursery.
