This April, London’s streets and gardens are transformed into a cherry blossom wonderland. From the wild cherry’s snow-like petals to the exotic blooms of Japanese varieties like ‘Shirotae’ and ‘Mikuruma-Gaeshi’, these trees bring a touch of magic to the city. Did you know some cherries have scents of almonds, gorse, or even peonies? Join us on 18 April as we explore the enchanting world of cherry blossoms, their history, and their place in London’s springtime beauty. Don’t miss this floral extravaganza!
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Wild Cherry
The wild cherry Mazzard or Gean Prunus avium now enters its main flowering period and by the end of the month will be losing its petals. They fall like flecks of snow like many other cherries, often forming a white pool beneath the tree. It has the habit of growing besides fences and gates, the mature tree often eventually knocking down both. Resting, well-fed birds, full of cherries sitting on the gates are regarded as the culprits. In London we also have the sour cherry P. cerasus which has red fruits compared with the mazzard’s black fruits. It is the sour cherry which is the parent of the ‘Kentish cherry’ which was sold in the past in London’s streets. Gerard described the cherries on sale as having “a bitter juice but watery, cold and moist”. He also accused them of “engendering ill blood, breeding worms in the belly and causing pestilent fevers”.
How P. avium got its unusual name of ‘mazzard’ is not known, but it seems the fruits were originally called ‘mazzards’ or ‘merries’ when sold in London. Its other name ‘gean’ is a corruption of Guignes which were cherries with soft fruit rather than hard ones. Whatever people thought of these early cherries, they were especially popular with Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I, who reportedly had over two hundred in her garden at Wimbledon. Woodpeckers also are equally fond of them, pecking their trunks for insects and also hollowing out holes to rear their families. If ever there was a tree that deserves to be grown as a double avenue in a grand garden it is the wild cherry. However, to see mature specimens over twenty metres in height all you need to do is walk along the North Downs way.
Garden Cherries
The early cherries are already disappearing from the urban landscape and being replaced by many others, especially those with pink clustered flowers such as the ever popular ‘Kanzan’ and ‘Pink perfection’. White cherries such as P. avium and its double form P. a. ‘plena’ are the most common in the first half of the month. However, Londoners are in love with their cherries and a blistering list of others take over e.g. P. a. x blireana, P. kurilensis, P. tenella, P. ‘Ojochin’, P. prostata, P. ‘Gioko’, P. Ichiyo, P. ‘Ukon’, P. ‘Kiku zakura’, P. padus, our native bird cherry and P. serrula, the Tibetan cherry. The latter, when its bark is rubbed, develops a high, mahogany-coloured polish, much encouraged by over zealous gardeners.
Any Weeping cherries seen are likely to be ‘Cheal’s Weeping’ and any vigorously upright forms Prunus ‘Amanogawa’. The latter tree has the scent of hawthorn. Two cherry trees noted for their finer scents are the Manchurian cherry P. mackii and P. serrulata ‘Hokusai’, the latter having the rare scent of peonies. P. ‘Jo-nioi’ also called Supreme fragrance is said to have the strongest scent of all, similar to gorse but with a hint of crushed almonds.
Another cherry worth seeking out is the Japanese Hill cherry P. serrulata spontanea which is often seen beside temples in Japan. In Tokyo there is a three mile avenue of these trees. The young leaves are a rich red and were described by Rudyard Kipling to be “like the glow of a flame seen through the fingers of a hand”. Another beauty is Longpipes P. s. ‘Shimidsu Zakura’. Its Japanese name as with many others waxes lyrical, this one being translated as ‘moon hanging low by a pine tree’. The flower buds are shell pink, opening to semi-double snowy white. At this point the frilled white flowers are often compared to upside down ballet dancers, the two hanging carpels being like their legs. Another whose name would make you want to find it is P. ‘Mikuruma-Gaeshi’. It means ‘the royal carriage returns’ referring to a moment when the Emperor of Japan asked for his carriage to stop and return to a particularly beautiful tree that had caught his eye. It has the always eye-catching blue-pink flowers and is the shape of a giant bouquet.
A classic cherry planted more and more in London is P. ‘Shirotae’ generally regarded as one of the best of the white flowered varieties. In this case the thick clusters of semi-double white flowers hang in large bunches. The flowers are enclosed in the palest green leaves with very long tips, making the flower clusters look very much like posies. The large spreading nature of the tree and the scent of the flowers makes it like a huge almond-scented sunshade. A fine collection of named Japanese cherries can be seen at Kew including a number of those mentioned here.
