Flowering Almond Tree Seeds | (Prunus triloba)

Pink ruffled flowers. The earliest bloom of spring.

Prunus triloba, the Flowering Almond, is one of the earliest flowering woody plants of spring, smothering its bare branches in densely doubled, ruffled pink flowers in late winter and early spring before almost anything else in the garden has stirred. A native of China grown in cultivation for centuries, it is one of the most popular flowering shrubs in the traditional gardens of northern China and Japan and is equally valuable in North American landscapes for the concentrated color it delivers at the moment when spring is most needed. Each small flower is ruffled and layered like a miniature peony, giving the plant a refined, decorative quality that simple single flowers cannot match. Seed-grown plants express natural variation in flower doubleness and color from pale to deep pink. If you are looking to buy Flowering Almond seeds or grow this early spring bloomer from seed, this is the plant that tells you the worst of winter is over.

• Dense double pink flowers covering bare branches in late winter and early spring before leaves emerge
• One of the earliest flowering woody plants of the season, blooming ahead of forsythia in most climates
• Ruffled, layered flowers resembling tiny peonies, refined and distinctive compared to single-flowered cherries
• Compact shrub size suitable for small gardens, borders, and foundation plantings
• Seed-grown plants produce natural variation in flower fullness and shade of pink

Things you probably did not know about the Flowering Almond

It is one of the most historically cultivated flowering shrubs in Chinese garden history. Prunus triloba has been grown in Chinese gardens for centuries and appears in classical Chinese garden painting and poetry as a symbol of spring's arrival and the renewal of life after winter. The fully doubled form was developed through centuries of selection from the single-flowered wild species and became one of the defining ornamental plants of the traditional Chinese garden.

The flowers appear on the previous year's wood before any new growth begins. Flowering Almond blooms on one-year-old wood, which is why the flowers appear on bare stems before any new leaves emerge. This characteristic means that heavy pruning after bloom, rather than in late winter, is essential to preserving next year's flowering wood. Plants pruned in late winter will lose all of their bloom for that season.

It blooms so early it sometimes opens during late winter warm spells in zone 5 and 6. In years with extended late winter warm periods, Flowering Almond can begin opening flowers in February in zone 6, creating a pink display against possible late snow that is genuinely startling in its early arrival. This extremely early blooming timing is part of its value as a garden plant and also its occasional vulnerability to late frost damage.

The fruit that follows the flowers is edible. Small red-orange cherries ripen on Flowering Almond in summer and while they are not particularly flavorful when eaten raw, they are relished by birds and can be used in jams and preserves. The plant earns its place in the garden for the flowers and delivers modest additional value in the fruit.

Growing Details

• Botanical Name: Prunus triloba
• Stratification: Required, 90 to 120 days cold moist stratification
• USDA Zones: 3 to 8
• Soil: Well-drained, fertile, slightly acidic to neutral
• Light: Full sun, best flowering in full sun
• Height: 6 to 15 feet
• Spread: 6 to 12 feet
• Growth Rate: Moderate, 1 to 1.5 feet per year

Plant it at eye level near a path or window. The flowers open in the first warm days of late winter and they are the best news the garden delivers all year.