Prunus

A small native deciduous tree (or thicket-forming, suckering shrub) of eastern and central North America, grown for clouds of fragrant white 5-petaled flowers that open in March before the leaves and for the edible red plums that follow in early summer. It forms a broad, spreading crown with attractive dark reddish-brown twigs that sometimes carry thorny lateral branchlets. A documented larval host for swallowtails and other butterflies, with flowers of special value to native, bumble, and honey bees.

A small deciduous Rosaceae fruit tree grown for its golden-orange, red-blushed drupes — fragrant, showy, edible, and ripening in summer. Fragrant white flowers (pink in bud) open in early spring before the foliage, two weeks ahead of peaches. That early bloom is also its weakness: the flowers are extremely susceptible to frost injury, so apricots are notoriously hard to crop reliably outside sheltered sites.

A low, densely branching coastal shrub of northeastern dunes, smothered in white spring blossom and prized for the tart blue-purple plums that follow. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center documents it native from New Brunswick down the Atlantic seaboard to New Jersey, growing in sand and gravel near the sea, where it is both salt tolerant and drought tolerant. It carries Special Value to Native Bees, feeds birds with its fruit, and is self-incompatible — a second seedling is needed to set a real crop.

The largest native cherry of eastern North America — a medium-to-large deciduous shade tree that hangs elongated racemes of small white flowers in spring, then ripens drooping strings of pea-sized fruit from red to near-black in late summer. The fragrant white bloom feeds bees while the fruit is eaten by 33 species of birds and many mammals; it is also a workhorse larval host, supporting the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and a string of giant silk and sphinx moths. Every part except the ripe fruit is cyanide-bearing and toxic.

A suckering, thicket-forming native cherry that reads as a large shrub or small tree across most of North America. Fragrant white flowers open in elongated drooping racemes in spring, followed by dense pendulous clusters of pea-sized cherries that ripen red to dark purple-black in late summer. The astringent fruit is technically edible after processing, and the plant is a workhorse for wildlife — feeding birds and mammals and hosting sphinx-moth larvae.

A deciduous fruit tree of the rose family, native to Turkey and Europe and grown for its blue-to-black stone fruit. NC State describes it as a large shrub or small tree, 10-20 feet tall and wide, with an erect habit, smooth dark bark, and egg-shaped alternate leaves. Showy fragrant white flowers open in spring — it is the latest-blooming plum, which suits it to northern climates — and the fleshy 2-3 inch drupes ripen blue or black in September.

A small, fast-growing deciduous fruit tree native to China and grown almost exclusively for its juicy, fuzzy summer fruit. Showy pink flowers open in early spring before the long, lance-shaped leaves emerge, followed by yellow-to-orange peaches blushed with red over a large rough stone. Self-pollinating but high-maintenance — peaches reward regular watering, fertilization, and pruning, and demand vigilant pest management.

The tart 'pie cherry' of the rose family, native to Europe and southwest Asia and grown for cooking, preserving, and baking rather than fresh eating. A small, rounded, spreading deciduous tree — typically 13-20 feet tall and wide — that bears clusters of white spring flowers followed by bright red, acidic drupes in early to midsummer. Unlike the sweet cherry (Prunus avium), most sour cherries are self-fertile, so a single tree will set a crop. The shorter stature, greater cold-hardiness, and self-fertility make it the easier cherry for a home garden.

The European wild cherry — also called mazzard or gean — and the parent species behind nearly every sweet cherry cultivar sold for fruit, including Bing. Fragrant white flowers open singly or in 3-5 flowered clusters in spring just before the leaves, followed by small sweet red-to-black cherries in early summer. A deciduous tree of 15-30 feet in cultivation (to 60 feet in the wild); birds and squirrels relish the fruit and have naturalized it from gardens into the wild across eastern and midwestern North America.

A graceful Japanese ornamental flowering cherry — the predominant tree of the Washington, D.C. cherry-blossom display — reaching 30-40 feet with a spreading, broad-rounded crown. Fragrant white (sometimes pink-tinged) flowers open in 3-to-6-flowered clusters before or alongside the emerging foliage in a profuse early-spring bloom, followed by small black cherries that are bitter to people but eaten by birds. Dark green serrate leaves turn yellow with bronze tints in fall.