Prunus 'Snow Goose'
Common name: Hybrid flowering cherry
Prunus 'Snow Goose', an interspecific hybrid is, according to Douglas Justice, Vancouver's ornamental cherry tree expert, a modern (1970) Dutch hybrid of Fuji cherry (Prunus incisa) and Japanese hill cherry (Prunus serrulata var. spontanea), and has the same parents as the 1928 English hybrid Prunus 'Umineko'.
Prunus 'Snow Goose' grows with a fairly compact, vertical habit with its branches rising upward. In early spring before the leaves unfold, the flower buds open with corymbs of two or three yellow-centred pure white flowers. At full bloom, the yellow centres turn to magenta to attract pollinators. Prunus 'Snow Goose' foliage is bright green and turns to yellowy-orange in fall. The trunk has horizontal lines of lenticels for gas exchange.
Prunus 'Snow Goose' originated at the nursery of Albert Doorenbos, a Dutch horticulturalist. This tree has good disease resistance and tolerates urban pollution.
Prunus 'Snow Goose' can be found in Bed 70 at the lower end of the Great Lawn.
Text and photos by Kumi Sutcliffe