Progression of a 'Matsubara Red' flowering apricot

Here's another flowering apricot I started from a cutting in 1991. Prunus mume 'Matsubara Red' is reported to be the darkest red that is commercially available in the US. The trunk thickens very slowly, even when it is planted in the ground. I've heard that is a trait shared by most of the red flowering varieties. I never had much luck getting it to bud back on old wood, though that could have been a fault of the peat, perlite, and crushed granite mix I was using. This year I'll see if akadama or Boon's mix give better results with apricot cuttings.

In 2007 I planted it back in the ground to let it build up some vigor before I attempt another drastic pruning.

The first photo is from 1996, I think. (This is actually a scanned snapshot.)


Here's another scanned snapshot from a year later:


2003, after being in the ground for a few years, and then chopped back. (An actual digital photo this time.)



2004:


2006:


Blossom closeup:

William what zone are you in. I am in zone 5 in Michigan. Do you think flowering apricot is hardy in zone 5. Would I leave outdoors buried or sheltered in unheated garage. Any advise appreciated. Thanks

I'm in zone 7. The Camellia Forest Nursery site says Prunus mume is zone 6.
http://www.camforest.com/Prunus_mume_s/2.htm

I don't know if an unheated garage is going to be enough protection in zone 5. Even if the tree survives you might have problems with the flower buds freezing off. However, if the tree is small enough you could let it go dormant in the refrigerator.

Thanks for your input, not the tree for me. I'd spend all my time tryin to keep it alive. Tanks again. Very beautiful though

do you have a 2010 picture of the tree?

I've tried this variety and it requires a lot of care. Glad to see yours is doing well.

Luc

Hi William,

Outstanding work! This is one of the most pleasant trees I've seen in quite a while...very unique. Keep up the great work, and please show us more!

BM

Beautiful tree!
I'm surprised to hear that it won't back bud, although I've heard recently about the need to graft branches into them from time to time, perhaps you can inarch graft them with the long branch tips? I just let my wife's dog slam into mine to force it to back bud, I could also lend you a dog.
I have two mume, I don't know what variety they are but I'm in zone 5 and since they are so hard to come by in Canada I'm not willing to grow them outside in the winter so they come into my garage. However, to fatten them up I've been planting them in the ground in during the growing season in a rootmaker grow bag so that the roots can grow into the ground and then in the fall I just pull up the bag out of the soil. This way I don't need to disturb the main root ball from season to season and each year.
Kevin

luc tran wrote:do you have a 2010 picture of the tree?

Here's one from today. It is anchored to the ground by roots growing through the bottom of the pot.

That's a delightful variety and useful information, thanks William. Lots of buds for a good show this season too.

Nice tree, William. There's some interesting shapes going on there! The blossom is beautiful, but you weren't kidding when you said it takes a while to bulk up, were you?

Very cool tree William, beautiful blossoms. Thanks for sharing.