Description
Botanical Name: Prunus glandulosa ‘Rosea Plena’
Common Name: Flowering Almond, Dwarf Flowering Almond
Description: Flowering almond is a welcome ornament in early spring, when the bare branches burst into bloom even before the leaves open. The plant’s natural form is that of a multistemmed deciduous shrub that grows 4-5′ tall x 3-4′ wide, but she can be pruned into a small tree. She blooms beautiful double pink flowers. This almond is purely ornamental, she does not produce almonds. Since she’s a spring bloomer, do any needed pruning asap after flowering is finished. She grows great in sandy to clay soil, doesn’t need a lot of fertilization but does like compost added when planting and top-dressed once a year. She’s somewhat drought tolerant after becoming established, but does best with 1″ of water per week. Add her to that sun to part shade area in your garden.
This is a larval host plant to Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus), and she attracts other pollinators to her nectar filled flowers.
The plant’s leaves are toxic to humans, although at a low level. Dwarf flowering almond stems, leaves, and seeds contain cyanide, especially during wilting. You know what that means: it can be added to your poison garden!
This plant in 3-gallon containers is 3-4′ tall x 1-2′ wide.
Interesting Tidbit: Flowering almond was popular in Edwardian and Victorian gardens, and is easily grown and long-lived. A characteristic which makes it especially valuable for Southern gardeners is that this shrub requires only a very short period of chilling to induce flowering.
Hardiness Zones 4 – 9
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