| According to your zip code, you are located in zone 5A, the coldest part of zone 5. This could potentially be as cold as zone 4, depending on your microclimate. For this reason I would worry a bit about this tree Prunus serrulata `Mount Fuji` (P. s. 'Shirotae')being reliably cold hardy for you. Instead, you might want to look at some of the flowering crabapple trees. There are many newer, disease resistant varieties with a variety of flower colors and overall shapes and sizes, including weeping forms which might offer the look you have in mind. Another possibility might be to look at the Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)with its unique horizontal branching, white spring flowers, and in approximately the same size range (20 feet tall and wide) as the Shirotae -- and with better cold tolerance. Your local county extension and/or professionally trained nursery staff may have different suggestions based on a more detailed understanding of the planting site you have in mind as well as your overall design goals. Enjoy your new tree! |
