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      • Cover Crops and Garlic
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      • Fall Greens for the Edible Landscape
      • Grow Lettuce
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      • Okra is more than a vegetable
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      • Silly Scilla! in September
      • Daylily 'Genesta' Tall Blond
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      • Gardening Basics
      • Seeds for Winter Sowing
      • Right Plant Right Place
      • Black Lenten Rose
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      • Amur Adonis
      • Hosta 'Empress Wu'
      • Wa-Hoo For Waipahu!
      • Chrysanthemum
      • Ranunculus
      • Ragged Robin
      • Toadflax Canon J. Went
      • Spurge Euphorbia
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      • Rain Gardening
      • Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden
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      • SOIL pH guide
      • SOIL Mecklenburg basics
      • Topsoil the dirt about
      • Prep SOIL for transplants
      • Build SOIL fertility
      • Garden Recycling: Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes . . .
      • MICROCLIMATES
      • Heat Wave Garden Tips
      • Why Should We Care about Biodiversity
      • Why Biodiversity Is Slipping Away
      • Plant Hardiness Zones From The USDA (2012 update)
      • Biological Islands for Cleaner Water Purification through Floating Treatment Wetlands
    • BUGS & Insects >
      • YELLOW JACKETS look out!
      • SLUGS a beer fest
      • HORNWORM control
    • WILDLIFE, Varmints >
      • DEER stinky control that works
      • RABBITS defend your garden
      • SQUIRRELS what really works
      • VOLES what will & won't work
      • MOLES what works
      • PESKY 'POSSUMS
      • PESKY RACCOONS
      • SNAKES gracious Alive!
  • Symposium
  • Hort Desk 2
  • HOME
    • About Master Gardener Volunteers
    • Become A Master Gardener Volunteer
    • Demonstration GARDENS
    • 2018 Master Gardener training
    • Publications
  • EVENTS
  • Contact
    • Speaker Request
    • Garden HELP Desk
    • School/Community Garden Consultation
  • GARDEN CALENDAR
    • January winter
    • February to do list
    • March timely tips
    • April 15th last frost
    • May spring frenzy
    • June garden tasks
    • July summer tasks
    • August hot summer
    • September gardens
    • October fall begins
    • November planting
    • December gardens
    • Garden TOPIC search
  • Gardening Articles
    • VEGETABLES >
      • Heirloom Vegetable Seeds, Cool Season
      • Heirloom Vegetable Seeds for Summer Crops
      • Vegetable Love, The Edible Landscape in January
      • Peas Edible Landscape
      • How To Dig A Vegetable Garden - Soil Science And Preparation
      • Warm Season Vegetables & Fruits: Edible Landscaping
      • Growing & Feeding Container Vegetables
      • Organic, Heirloom And Regular Seeds-What To Plant And Why
      • Organic Vs. Chemical Gardening Practices
      • The Quest for the Perfect Tomato
      • Cover Crops and Garlic
      • Tomato Primer the basics
      • Fall Greens for the Edible Landscape
      • Grow Lettuce
      • The Tomato Wars heirlooms vs. hybrids
      • Okra is more than a vegetable
      • Hill of Beans
      • Sweet Potatoes & Yams
      • Seasonal Edible Planting Layouts for Raised Bed Gardens
    • HERBS >
      • Rosemary Darling Of The Kitchen
    • FOOD Health Organics >
      • Eat Local
      • LOCAL food in Mecklenburg
      • Carolina Produce
      • Grow Healthy Kids with Gardening
      • Grow Top 6 Veggies
      • Okra Southern Food
      • Sweet Potatoes
      • Let Us Eat Lettuce
      • Green Leafy Friends
      • Canning Basics 101
      • Snappy Green Beans
      • Tasty Peas
      • Gardener Skin Care
      • Summer Heat Safety
      • Produce Your Produce Grow Guide
    • BULBS, Rhizomes >
      • Coo-Coo for Crocus
      • Bulbs for Spring Planting, Summer Bloom
      • Tall Bearded Irises Dig Divide
      • Bulbs For Fall Planting Spring Bloom In Mecklenburg County And Region
      • Cool Crinum Beat the Heat
      • Silly Scilla! in September
      • Daylily 'Genesta' Tall Blond
    • NATIVE Plants >
      • Natives With Winter Interest
      • Native Plants for All Seasons
      • Ameliorating Habitat Loss
      • Native Plants With Spring Interest
      • Tough Plants for Tough Times
    • Invasive Exotics
    • FAVORITE Plants >
      • Japanese Maple Ferns Black Mondo - A Winning Combination
      • Spring Woodland Gift
      • Winning Perennial Plant Combo
      • How to Stop A Car!
    • FRUIT >
      • Easy Fruit Growing
    • PERENNIAL Flowers >
      • Gardening Basics
      • Seeds for Winter Sowing
      • Right Plant Right Place
      • Black Lenten Rose
      • Trillium
      • Amur Adonis
      • Hosta 'Empress Wu'
      • Wa-Hoo For Waipahu!
      • Chrysanthemum
      • Ranunculus
      • Ragged Robin
      • Toadflax Canon J. Went
      • Spurge Euphorbia
    • SHRUBS, pruning >
      • Pruning Boxwoods
      • Paperbush Edgeworthia
      • Camellia Primer
      • Spider Azalea
      • Garden Borders
    • LAWNS Groundcover
    • GARDEN DESIGN >
      • Rain Gardening
      • Attracting Hummingbirds to Your Garden
    • CONIFERS >
      • White Cedar Cypress
      • Growing Conifers in the South
      • Select Pines for Carolinas
      • Eastern Red Cedar
      • Yews and Plum Yews
      • Hemlocks Tsuga
      • Japanese Cedars
      • Spruces Picea
    • TREES, care, resources >
      • Flowering Apricot
      • Witch Hazel Hybrids
      • Redbud Primer
      • Dogwood Primer
      • Growing Bamboo
      • Crape Myrtle 'Violet Filli'
      • Earth-Friendly Lawn
      • Managing Lawns Environmentally
      • Acer palmatum 'Bihou'
    • SOIL compost >
      • SOIL in the Piedmont
      • SOIL pH guide
      • SOIL Mecklenburg basics
      • Topsoil the dirt about
      • Prep SOIL for transplants
      • Build SOIL fertility
      • Garden Recycling: Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes . . .
      • MICROCLIMATES
      • Heat Wave Garden Tips
      • Why Should We Care about Biodiversity
      • Why Biodiversity Is Slipping Away
      • Plant Hardiness Zones From The USDA (2012 update)
      • Biological Islands for Cleaner Water Purification through Floating Treatment Wetlands
    • BUGS & Insects >
      • YELLOW JACKETS look out!
      • SLUGS a beer fest
      • HORNWORM control
    • WILDLIFE, Varmints >
      • DEER stinky control that works
      • RABBITS defend your garden
      • SQUIRRELS what really works
      • VOLES what will & won't work
      • MOLES what works
      • PESKY 'POSSUMS
      • PESKY RACCOONS
      • SNAKES gracious Alive!
  • Symposium
  • Hort Desk 2

Flowering Apricot One of the first Trees to Bloom

flowering apricot
Prunus mume ‘Okitsu Akabana’ photo by Learn to Grow.
by Tom Nunnenkamp

Want to have the first tree blooming in the neighborhood?  
If so, plant a Flowering Apricot, Prunus mume.  Located in full to part sun, you will be amply rewarded on a crisp winter day. 

This fast-growing, deciduous tree often starts blooming on warm days in January or early February, although it will vary some by variety.  I have had one start blooming about the time the other was finishing.  Both bloom before my Okame Cherry, which is my earliest blooming non-apricot.  Prunus mume is said to be the longest-lived of the flowering trees. 

Left on its own, this twiggy tree can be somewhat unattractive when not blooming, so many place it where it is not a feature the rest of the year.  However, I have found that with appropriate pruning when young, this objectionable characteristic can be overcome.  Mine now have a pleasing shape after about four years in the ground, and are already about ten feet in height and width.  Often seen with multiple trunks, I prefer to grow them with a single trunk.    

flowering apricot
P. mume ‘Bonita’
The fragrant blooms of flowering apricot come in single or double, and hued white, pink or red.  Each flower has five petals.  There are over 250 cultivars in Japan, but in this country, ‘Peggy Clarke’ is probably the best known of the named varieties with its double, rose-pink flowers and edible fruit.  I have also grown ‘Bonita’, a semi-double rose-red and ‘Dawn’, a pink specimen.  

Be sure to plant these trees high.  One of mine died after several years in the ground; apparently the tree “settled” in the hole.  Borers may attack stressed trees, so fertilize them regularly.  Their thin bark is damaged easily, so keep them safely away from lawn mowers or string trimmers.  Having given you these caveats, there are no diseases that are major concerns.  
If you want to pursue the many varieties of flowering apricot available in North Carolina, contact Camellia Forest Nursery (www.camforest.com).  They typically have ten to twelve different varieties for sale.  © Tom Nunnenkamp 2009 all rights reserved
Picture
Tom Nunnenkamp is an Extension Master Gardener Volunteer with Mecklenburg County, NC, whose beautiful garden, Maple Walk, is planted with numerous specimen trees. 
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