Beautiful, yet fleeting

The Exton Gardener

With all the drama of the October flood events, it is hard to remember just how beautiful the river bank was at the beginning of the month with our own little cherry blossom time. 

While we can’t hope to match the Japanese fervour for cherry blossom viewing or Hanami, it was wonderfull to see the display this year. 

I did see people picnicking beneath this year but cherry blossom viewing has yet to be the celebration in Tasmania as it is in Japan.

Japan and the Cherry Blossom

For the Japanese, the ornamental cherry has a long history of reverence and hybridisation, with temples and shrines and river banks planted with over 200 species and cultivars over the centuries. 

With the modernisation of Japan starting at the end of the nineteenth century and especially leading up to the Second World War, most species and hybrids were discarded in favour of the Yoshino cherry. Its fleeting beauty was used by the militaristic government as a metaphor for the brief glory of serving your country and death. 

Only a few dedicated individuals were able to preserve the variety of cherries.

One tree, Tai Haku or the Great White Cherry, completely lost to Japan,  was found in a garden in southern England, the former home of Captain Collingwood “Cherry” Ingram who had travelled Japan in the early twentieth century collecting cuttings of as many cherry varieties as he could find and growing them on in his garde. 

So Tai Haku was able to be restored to Japan. There is a small planting of Tai Haku on our own river bank.

Here in Tasmania the most popular hybrid seems to be Prunus serrulata ‘Shirotae’ or ‘Mt Fuji’ with its double white blossoms and spreading habit. 

P. serrulata ‘Shirofugen’ has large white double flowers and is the last to flower. P. serrulata ‘Kanzan’ has the bright pink double flowers and the upright vase form that we see behind Tiers Cottages as we come into Deloraine. 

P. serrulata ‘Ukon’ has a similar habit but the flowers have a delicious pale pink and greenish tint. Here, at the end of October, these hybrids are still putting on a glorious show.

The main hanami Cherry species in Japan is somei yoshino (P. X yedoensis), a single petalled pink form which seems to be little grown here. 

The closest we grow is P. subhirtella, a white flowered species which is used extensively for grafting to produce the popular weeping cherries. 

You may notice seedlings under your weeping cherry. As a rule, only single flowers produce seedlings. If you plant a seedling, it will grow into a large, long lived flowering cherry. 

A note of caution though: I’ve found that established cherries hate root disturbance and will fail to grow next spring.

So whatever your cherry, enjoy its beauty while it flowers. Perhaps we should have a cup of green tea or even a sake under its branches. Life changes so very quickly!