Kwanzan cherry

Prunus ‘Kanzan’

Today’s cherry sits proudly in Touro Park, just off Bellevue Ave. This Japanese variety is one of the latest of the ornamental cherries to bloom in spring.  Bright pink double blossoms emerge with coppery new leaves. The blossoms sit on more robust branches compared to other delicate, scaffold cherries.  During a time of year when it’s difficult to choose which flowering tree should be named tree of the week, this cherry leads the pack, since Newport is rich in stately individuals of this variety. Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll find a standout example with no trouble.  

This is another plant that has gone through the changing name game. Currently classified as Prunus ‘Kanzan’, this tree was originally known by Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’. It is now considered a species hybrid with a variety name of Kanzan.

The feature that I enjoy about the older trees, particularly in the parks of Newport like Touro and Morton Park, is that they lack the straight trunks devoid of lower branches seen in novel produced trees.  Kanzan branches low to the ground and spreads multiple trunks full of flowers up to the sky.  Both the modern and older trees are clones propagated by grafting Kanzan stems onto seedling cherry rootstocks. The difference is, the modern preference is to train straight stems that don’t branch until 5 feet above the ground. This elevates the branches up and over walkways and streets but removes the low, spreading character to fit a standard landscape shape.  Though pragmatic and easy to produce, they lose that stoic feel that makes many of our Newport Heritage Trees, like this cherry at Touro Park, so precious.