Spring Wonder Sargent Cherry
(Prunus sargenti 'Hokkaido Normandale')
(Prunus sargenti 'Hokkaido Normandale')
Family : Roseacease
Zone: 4 - 7
Zone: 4 - 7
This is an extraordinary tree on the Normandale Campus. Our Japanese flowering cherry tree is native to Japan and is covered in beautiful pale pink flowers in May. This selected cultivar originated from seed that was originally collected near Hokkaido Japan by Roland Jefferson, an arborist at the United States National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.. Mr. Jefferson was an acquaintance of Takao Watanabe, the designer of Normandale's Japanese garden. Since Japanese cherry trees are not very cold hardy Mr. Jefferson searched for a cultivar that could withstand our Minnesota winters and ultimately discovered this particularly hearty tree. It has now been brought to commercial propagation by Bailey Nurseries and is available to gardeners due to these efforts. It proudly bears the cultivar name of "Hokkaido Normandale'!