Prunus Padus Colorata

The Purple Leaf Bird Cherry is a pink flowering variety of the native Bird Cherry tree. It is a striking tree with excellent contrasts and changes of colour across the year. The leaf buds and new stems begin as a deep purple, bronzing into a coppery tone as the leaves unfurl and becoming deep green in summer. The flowers appear in May, while the leaves are still fresh, on long flowering strands called racemes. Each delicate flower has pale pink petals around a rose-hip coloured centre. These face out in every direction from their central stalk, appearing all the more vivid because of the rich foliage. The small black fruit are popular with birds. Prunus padus Colorata is a tough, hardy tree that will grow in most well drained soils and with its narrow, upright canopy it is suitable for most gardens. It reach a height of about 10 metres.

Browse our variety of cherry blossom trees or see our full range of garden trees for sale.

History & uses of Prunus padus Colorata: This unusual pink flowered bird cherry was discovered by chance in Sweden in the 1950's and all existing trees are clones of that original tree, as it doesn't come true from seed. The RHS loves this tree and has given it 3 awards since 1974, two for its cuttings on display and the Award of Garden Merit for being easy to grow and good looking.

How Standard Trees are Measured: All our standards are graded by their girth in centimetres - taken 1 metre above ground level. So, a 6/8 standard has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8 centimetres and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10 centimetres. In any variety an 8/10 is taller than a 6/8 but the heights between different varieties can vary hugely. So standard trees are roughly 2.5 - 4.5 metres tall.

Notes on planting Prunus padus Colorata trees:
Bird Cherry is a very hardy plant that thrives on poor, dry soils. It needs full sun to flower well and it may struggle on shallow chalk, although it is fine for most alkaline sites.
It will not grow well in the shade or on damp sites. It is not suitable for coastal areas and we don't recommend it as a windbreak hedge for exposed areas because the wind will blast it out of shape.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the site where you plant a tree several months in advance. Kill the weeds first: for tough weeds like nettles, brambles and ground elder, you will usually need a glyphosate based weed-killer to get rid of them. When you dig the soil over, remove stones and other rubbish and mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.

Watch our video on how to plant a tree for full instructions.
Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Tree Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Roundup weed killer.
You can buy a tree planting pack with a wooden stake & rubber tie to support the tree and a mulch mat with pegs to protect the soil around the base of your tree from weeds and drying out.
We suggest that you use mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all newly planted large trees: if your soil quality is poor, we strongly recommend it.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Misc	RHS AGM, Wildlife Value
Shade	Partial Shade
Area	Frost Pockets, Scotland & The North
Colour	Pink - Light
Type	Native, Screening
Also Good	Autumn Colour
Flowering	Apr, May

	NUMBER OF PLANTS Inc. VAT
SIZES	1-2	3-9	10+
6/8 std Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£47.94	Plenty of Stock£45.54	Plenty of Stock£43.14
8/10 std Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£65.94	Plenty of Stock£53.94	Plenty of Stock£47.94

Pink Flowered Bird Cherry Trees

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Prunus Padus Colorata