What can I use instead of much-loved Hawthornes?
It has to be a medium to large tree. Horizontal in habit. Have flowers, fruit, and winter beauty. And be disease resistant. The answer is (I think) Sargent Cherry. Prunus sargentii. Nothing is as exciting in early spring as Cherry blossoms, and a driveway lined with them could cause traffic accidents.
The Sargent Cherry doesn’t have the big ( I think overblown) double flowers of the Kwanzan Cherry. Sargent has a much more elegant, single layer of petals. It does get berries, though they aren’t very noticeable and don’t last through the winter. But oh, the bark in winter – lustrous, ruddy-brown with horizontal srtipes (lenticils. The bark is so elegant it looks artificial.
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