Plants

Weeping hemlock is one of the most distinctive conifers available to American gardeners, prized less for size than for the way its branches spill and cascade in an irregular, almost liquid form. Unlike the stiff, upright silhouette most people associate with evergreens, weeping hemlock reads as something closer to a slow-motion waterfall frozen mid-fall, which … Read more

Cypress trees in Florida hold a level of ecological and historical significance that few other trees in the state can match, having formed some of the oldest and most iconic wetland forests found anywhere in the southeastern United States. Until 2012, Florida was home to The Senator, a bald cypress tree in Longwood estimated to … Read more

Most people picture a cherry tree the same way: white or pink blossoms floating above bright green leaves in early spring. Cherry trees with dark red leaves flip that image on its head, holding onto deep maroon, plum, and near-black foliage from the moment the leaves unfurl until they drop in autumn. Nurseries report that … Read more

A cherry tree with flowers is one of the most reliable ways to bring a dramatic, short-lived burst of color into a landscape, and the sheer variety available goes far beyond the handful of famous cultivars most people can name. Japan alone has cultivated and named several hundred distinct flowering cherry varieties over the centuries, … Read more

Cherry trees with low chill hours have opened up cherry growing to gardeners in places that were written off as impossible just a generation ago. Standard sweet cherries need between 700 and 1,200 hours of winter temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit to break dormancy and bloom properly, a threshold that rules out most of California’s … Read more

Cherry trees that need pollinators make up the majority of sweet cherry varieties sold today, since most sweet cherries are genetically self-incompatible and cannot be pollinated by their own pollen no matter how many blossoms cover the tree each spring. Washington State University Extension research confirms that most sweet cherry varieties fall into this self-unfruitful … Read more

Cherry trees that do not bear fruit exist because of a genetic trade-off centuries of Japanese breeding built directly into their flowers. Many ornamental cherry cultivars carry doubled blossoms with 20 to 50 petals per flower, and those extra petals typically develop by converting the tree’s own reproductive parts, its stamens and pistils, into more … Read more

Cherry trees that grow in zone 7 have more options than almost any other hardiness zone in the country, since the region’s winter lows of 0 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit hit a sweet spot between too little chill for classic sweet cherries and too much cold for the more tender ornamental types. Zone 7 spans … Read more

Cherry trees that grow in DC go far beyond the handful of names most visitors learn on a single walk around the Tidal Basin. The National Park Service manages approximately 3,800 cherry trees across the city’s monumental core, and the original 1912 gift from Japan alone included 3,020 trees representing 12 different named varieties. Add … Read more

Dwarf cherry trees are changing the way gardeners think about growing cherries at home. Instead of needing a large orchard and a ladder to reach the upper branches, many compact cherries can fit comfortably into smaller yards, edible gardens, and even carefully managed urban spaces. The term “dwarf cherry tree” can mean two different things. … Read more