NYU Garden Shop Plant of the Week: Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan') on the Bleecker Street side of Coles Sports Center, 181 Mercer Street.

NYU Garden Shop Plant of the Week--April 25. 2011
Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata 'Kwanzan')

NYU Garden Shop Plant of the Week

By Head Gardener, George Reis
Monday, April 25, 2011
Japanese Flowering Cherry (Prunus serrulata), or 'Kwanzan,' on the Bleecker Street side of Cole Sports Center, 181 Mercer Street.


Today our enjoyment of the exuberant blooms of the Japanese Flowering Cherries on our campus is especially poignant as the people of Japan continue to struggle with the natural disasters that have ravaged their country.  it's worth taking a moment to note that alll of us who appreciate gardening owe a great debt to the Japanese.  Their horticultural and landscape traditions are among the finest anywhere and have deeply influenced western gardens ever since Europeans first made contact with imperial Japan. 

One of the cultural values embedded in Japanese gardens is their love for the fleeting nature of beauty and of life itself--a sentiment being cast this year into sharp relief by the terrible losses suffered by the people of Japan. In the words of Andrew Juniper, from his book Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence--

              "During the brief time that the millions of cherry trees in Japan
               blossom, hundreds of thousands of small parties are held beneath
               them. Sake is drunk, songs are sung, and the fleeting beauty of the
               blossoms is enjoyed to the full. They are enjoyed in the knowledge
               that at the whim of the wind or rain nature can withdraw their
               beauty at a moment's notice.  It is like a celebration of our own
               fleeting lives and is another way in which the Japanese can indulge
               their love of things impermanent."

"This is the fifth year that we have underplanted the cherries and dogwoods at Coles with about 3,000 tulips, both early and late varieties to extend the period of bloom," said Reis.  "Most of the early tulips are flowering right now, and you can see the late tulips coming up soon to follow them."

Over the next few days, you'll see the cherries shed their flowers in a cascading effect of falling petals that looks like a fresh snowfall.  Take a few minutes to stop by Coles Sports Center this week and enjoy the show.


Previous Plants of the Week:


Saucer Magnolia 

April 19, 2011
Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana) in the Vanderbilt Hall Courtyard, at 40 Washington Square South.

Daffodil

April 12, 2011
Daffodil (Narcissus spp.) in the sidewalk median at 100 Bleecker Street.

Lenten Rose

April 5, 2011
Lenten Rose (Helleborus x hybridus) in the sidewalk median at 100 Bleecker Street.

Camellia

March 29, 2011
Camellia 'April Remembered' (Camellia japonica 'April Remembered') at Coles Sports Center, 181 Mercer Street.

Japanese Maple

Mar 22, 2011
Coral Bark Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum 'Sango Kaku') at Glucksman Ireland House.

Hamamelis

Mar 18, 2011
NYU Garden Shop Plant of the Week---Witch-hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia) at #2 Washington Square Village Lobby Garden. (interior of Washington Square Village, W 3rd Street jst west of Mercer).

Crocus Species

Mar 8, 2011
Crocus species mix on Bleecker Street side of NYU Coles Sports Center.

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