Culture

Best grown in moist, fertile, well-drained loams in full sun to part shade. Best flowering in full sun. Needs regular pruning to remove dead wood and to maintain attractive form.

Noteworthy Characteristics

Prunus triloba, commonly called flowering almond, is a dense, rounded, deciduous, multi-stemmed shrub that typically grows 10-15’ tall and as wide. It is sometimes grown as a small tree. Pink, five-petaled flowers appear in a profuse early spring bloom (April in St. Louis). Flowers may be followed by globose red fruit (1/2" diameter). Fruit is attractive to squirrels. Coarse, double-toothed, broad-ovate, medium green leaves (to 2.5” long) are often three lobed, hence the specific epithet. Foliage turns yellow in fall. Species plants are native to China, but may no longer exist in the wild. ‘Simplex’ is a single-flowered form that may be identical to the species.