Weeping Higan Cherry Tree Seeds | Weeping Cherry | (Prunus subhirtella var. pendula)

The most graceful flowering tree in the temperate world. The one that stops everyone.

Prunus subhirtella, the Weeping Higan Cherry, produces one of the most breathtaking ornamental displays available in any temperate garden, its long, arching, pendulous branches sweeping to the ground and covering themselves in pale pink to white blossoms in early spring, creating a curtain of color that moves in the gentlest wind and transforms every surrounding view. It blooms earlier than most other flowering cherries, sometimes while late frost is still a possibility, and the individual blossoms are smaller and more delicate than the large-flowered cultivated cherries, giving it a natural, refined quality that feels closer to something found in the wild than something bred in a nursery. Each seed-grown tree develops its own weeping form and bloom color, making every specimen unique. If you are looking to buy Weeping Cherry seeds or grow weeping higan cherry from seed, this is the tree whose first bloom will stop you in your tracks on a March morning.

• Pendulous weeping branches sweeping to the ground, covered in pale pink blossoms in early spring
• Blooms earlier than most other flowering cherries, sometimes in late winter
• Small, delicate individual blossoms with a refined, natural quality unlike large-flowered cultivated varieties
• Brilliant orange and gold fall foliage, exceptional for a cherry
• Each seed-grown tree develops its own unique weeping form and flower color

Things you probably did not know about the Weeping Higan Cherry

The original Higan Cherry at the Washington DC Tidal Basin is over 100 years old. The famous cherry trees of the National Mall were gifted to the United States by Japan in 1912, and among the first planting were Higan Cherry specimens that are still alive today. They are the oldest of the Washington cherry trees and represent an unbroken living connection to the original gift that created one of the most famous spring destinations in the world.

Higan means other shore in Japanese. The Higan Cherry is named after the Buddhist festival of Higan, observed twice yearly at the spring and autumn equinoxes, a time of reflection on the passage to the other shore of existence. The cherry blossoms, blooming at the spring equinox, were associated with the transience of beauty and life that is central to Japanese Buddhist philosophy. The name carries thousands of years of contemplative meaning.

Seed-grown Weeping Cherries cannot be predicted. Unlike clonally propagated nursery weeping cherries that are grafted and reproduced to a specific standard form, seed-grown Prunus subhirtella produces natural variation in weeping habit, flower color from white through pale and deep pink, bloom time, and ultimate size. Some seedlings will develop an exquisite strong weeping form, others a more open arching habit. The uncertainty is part of the experience of growing from seed.

It blooms so early that it occasionally opens in autumn as well. Prunus subhirtella has a tendency in warm autumns to produce scattered blossoms in October and November before full dormancy, a phenomenon called autumn blooming that creates surprising out-of-season flower displays. The same tree may bloom lightly in fall and then flower fully again in early spring, providing two bloom periods in a single growing year.

Growing Details

• Botanical Name: Prunus subhirtella
• Stratification: Required, 90 to 120 days cold moist stratification
• USDA Zones: 4 to 8
• Soil: Well-drained, fertile, slightly acidic
• Light: Full sun
• Height: 20 to 40 feet
• Spread: 15 to 30 feet depending on weeping habit
• Growth Rate: Moderate, 1 to 1.5 feet per year

Plant it where it has room to weep. The branches need space to reach toward the ground, and when they do, the tree becomes one of the most visited spots on the property every March.