Hanami II

This is the clear version of a photomanip of the flowers of Prunus Amanogawa. The other version is here.


It's an old Japanese tradition to celebrate the beauty of the cherry blossoms with a festival, hanami 花見. There are several very beautiful varieties of Japanese Flowering Cherries, most of them are cultivars of Prunus serrulata. Well known and really a romantic tree is (Cheal´s) Weeping Cherry, Prunus Kiku-Shidare or Shidare-Sakura 枝垂桜. I grew one in my former garden which I unfortunately left there when I had to move. Now, I have a Prunus Amanogawa 天の川, which means "Milky Way". It's a fastigiate tree and very (too?) popular since it is ideal for a small garden. I like its semi-double flowers very much, especially, as they provide a wonderful scent that reminds me of almond flowers. Here in my garden, its columnar shape fits well the limited place between two greenhouses but if I had more space, however, I'd like to grow another variety of Japanese Flowering Cherries again!