Prunus blireiana is a non-fruiting hybrid between Prunus cerasifera “A tropurpurea.” P. cerasiferia is a slender tree with small white flowers and sweet, juicy red or yellow fruits from Southeastern Asia. Prunus mume is a Japanese flowering apricot. According to some references this tree is neither a true apricot nor a plum. Prunus mume’s flowers are fairly large, pink in bud and white when fully open with a most pleasing fragrance.
This tree is widely grown in Japan for artistic purposes especially in arrangements for the Japanese New Year as it blooms in January and February and the branches can be forced into flower for the New Year arrangement which calls for the use of Plum branches, bamboo and pine. The fruit of this tree is said to be inedible. One of the best traits of this tree is that it doesn’t grow so big that it dwarfs the home it is supposed to beautify. Its average adult height is 25 feet and its spread is about 20 feet. So far we have not heard of any damage to walks, streets or sewers from the roots of this tree which adds greatly to its value. It is highly recommended for a street tree, for planting in a lawn, patio or terrace.
After flowering the trees produce reddish purple foliage that takes on a bronze tone in summer. When planted in patios and terraces or close to walks the tree will need to be pruned to establish the head at a height that can be walked under. Like all plants, aphis, slugs, caterpillars and spider mites can attack the foliage. Also, the trunk should be checked each spring or if the tree looks a bit sick, for peach tree borers which attack just below soil level. These are possibilities but we grew three of these trees in our other garden for nearly 25 years without any of these problems.
However, I did have the whole garden sprayed professionally each spring. Apartment and condominium dwellers might be interested in Prunus cistena, a dwarf, red-leaf plum that has an adult height of six to ten feet that can be grown as either a tree or a shrub. This one has lovely purple leaves, light pinkish flowers in early spring and deep purple fruits in summer. I think the fruiting plums can give me at least two seasons of beauty as well as good edible fruit. Of course the trees will need to be pruned harder than the ornamental types, but this can be done at flowering time and the branches used for decorations.
Fruiting plums will also need to be fertilized more. The Japanese varieties such as Santa Rosa, Satsuma, etc will need one to three pounds of nitrogen a year and the European varieties such as the Damso, Imperial, etc. should have about two pounds of nitrogen per year.
Flowering Plum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum
