This is my Japanese Apricot tree.It starts to flower in January before most other shrubs and trees (except Camellias).If it is not too windy it will stay in flower until Feb.or longer.It does not produce edible fruit but is so pretty.
This is the first time I am posting a picture.I am using my daughter's camera and am a complete novice.
Well, D-Babe, you aren't a novice anymore!
Nice job, and nice tree!
Guy S.
DBabe good job.Do you by any chance know the botanical variety of the tree. Sure has pretty pink blooms. DonnaS
Beautiful blooms! At work, we have a quince bush that's been blooming for a couple of weeks now - this weather has EVERYTHING CONFUSED!!!
rutholive
I don't know the botanical variety but I can find out since I bought it in this area.
This tree always blooms in January.It is not because of the crazy weather we are having.
Very nice!
(and you just reminded me that I live in the wrong part of the country! It will be MONTHS before I see any tree or shrub in leaf or bloom. Bummer.)
Mike
Yeah, months here too darnit..
It is nice to see something blooming somewhere in January!
Kayjones, we are neighbors, I too live in Indep. MO. I think I would pass out if you were down the street!
You don't have to post on here where your at, but I'm off Truman Road in east Independence.
Its a small world!
Will
The Latin name is Prunus Mume or Japanese Flowering Apricot.I can't find the cultivar name but my tree has pink flowers.
This tree is listed in the Plant Files
Dbabe
I had never heard of a Japanese apricot. It's a nice tree and I will have to check it out. There must be many trees in the prunus family. I have several types and they aren't Japanese apricots.
The only plant that I have that is supposed to bloom this early is a Christmas rose (helleborus). I planted it last spring and it hasn't bloomed yet. Maybe it is a Lenten rose!
I was introduced to Prunus mume by a long-time local gardener. She loves it. It was apparantly a favorite, too, of J.C. Raulston. Fair praise indeed. Because of its VERY early blooming, y'all in the south may have a little better luck with it. I am going to try it, but my understanding is that the blooms are often burned by very low cold spells around here.
Interestingly enough, according to Arthur Lee Jacobson in North American Landscape Trees, a nursery in San Jose, California, W.B. Clarke, introduced numerous cultivars in the 1920s and 1930s. Supposedly all are rare anymore, as is the tree in general.
Jacobson mentions, however, that the tree has been a favorite in Japan for centuries and that over 300 cultivars exist in that country.
Scott
You are right about the freeze aspect.So far we have had 3 freezes this winter but none have lasted long and were not too severe.There are many unopened buds on the tree and if we have a long lasting severe freeze they will all be zapped.
In my garden the tree is growing under a live oak canopy which gives it a little more protection.
There was an article in our local newspaper's gardening section recommending this tree,so maybe more people will start growing it.
I love it!
