Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-406
Japanese Apricot
Prunus mume
Japanese Apricot blooms in the depth of winter on bare wood, ahead of almost every other hardy tree, feeding pollinators weeks or months before anything else flowers - though that same early bloom exposes the crop to any hard freeze that follows. The fruit stays hard and sour even fully ripe, so the real yield is salt-pickled umeboshi, the vinegar drawn off it, the steeped liqueur umeshu, and flowers used to flavour tea. Unlike most stone fruit it actually prefers some afternoon shade where summers run hot, making it easier to place in a hot climate than its relatives.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 6–9
- Soil
- Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Canopy- Soil pH
- 4.5–6
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 15–20 ft
- Mature spread
- 15–20 ft
- Plant spacing
- 15–20 ft
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
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- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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