Best fruit trees for blossom
The fruit trees to grow for a stunning display of spring blooms
Fruit trees make attractive ornamental features in the garden, especially during the months of spring when the promise of future crops start with the formation of blossoms on the bare stems. With the range of fruit types and forms available, gardens of any size and in any region can have a stunning display of spring blooms from fruit trees.
Early spring
In the first few weeks of spring (or even late winter), for the early bloomers there is a balance between the beauty of early blossoms and the risk of frosts damaging the tender petals and stamens. Almond trees are notably early in their blossoming time (so are best suited to regions when frosts are not common at this time) with a show of white flowers tinged with pink. As well as a feast for the eyes, almond blooms fill the air with the scent of honey.
Mid spring
Peach and nectarine trees are spring stunners, with soft pink blossoms. The Flatto peach and nectarine varieties are extra prolific bloomers, with up to 50 flowers per metre of branch! Japanese plum varieties such as ‘Elephant Heart’, ‘Fortune’ and ‘Santa Rosa’ flower with soft white single blooms in mid spring; European types such as ‘Damson’ and greengages bloom later (and thus are less susceptible to frosts in colder areas).
Late spring
As spring progresses, the later-flowering pome fruit – apples, pears and quinces – get underway with their spring display usually in September. Apple blossoms range from pure white single flowers to pink-tinged, depending on the variety and are born on spurs or the tips of branches. Pear trees all produce single white flowers and some have an unpleasant fragrance! (Pear blooms are not particularly attractive to bees due to low sugar content, so while in general planting to bring in bees is a good idea don't plant flowers that flower at the same time as the pears or the bees will ignore your pear tree). Quinces are a spring favourite with richly scented, large floppy white blossom.
Compact spaces
Even in small gardens or containers, fruit trees can bring brightness in spring. Dwarf peach and nectarine trees are spectacular in bloom with a riot of flowers. Most varieties have pretty light pinkcoloured blossoms, apart from the dwarf peach variety ‘Rose Chiffon’, which has claret pink blossom. A cousin of these dwarf stonefruit is the petite almond ‘Garden Prince’, which is similarly attractive in spring with pink blooms.
For small gardens, columnar apple trees are perfect for narrow spots. The top pick for blossom is the Ballerina ‘Maypole’ variety, which has bright pink flowers smothering the trunk. Other columnar apples, including the Ballerina varieties ‘Bolero’, ‘Polka’ and ‘Waltz’ along with the Spire series (‘Crimson Spire’ and ‘Scarlet Spire’), have white blossoms tinged with pink.
Berry vines are perfect for small gardens, taking up a small amount of space on a wall or set of wires. Blackberries (such as ‘Navaho’ and ‘Black Satin’ varieties), boysenberries (‘Brulee’, ‘Tasman’ or ‘Mapua’) and hybrid berries (‘Berry Delight’) all produce pretty large white flowers late in spring along the new canes (and it doesn’t take long at all for these to develop into fruitlets, or more correctly, drupelets).
Bright blooms
Pomegranate trees flower first in spring with cute red-orange flowers that look like crumpled-up carnations, sometimes as single flowers on the branch tips but more often as clusters of blooms. The trees can continue to flower through spring, or may just flower again in summer.
Inconspicuous flowers
Sometimes flowers are not brightly coloured and obvious, with the technical horticultural term being ‘inconspicuous’. Persimmons fit this bill perfectly, with small, flat, green flower bracts forming along the stems, cleverly disguised alongside the same coloured new foliage.
Companion plants
Companion planting will entice bees and other pollinating insects to visit your fruit trees. Companion plants may not flower at the same time as your fruit trees, but will encourage bees to visit so that when your edibles are flowering, your garden is on the list of spots to
Gardens of any size and in any region can have a stunning display of spring blooms from fruit trees
The soft and tender fleshy petals and fragile stamens of spring blooms need to be protected from spring frosts
check plants out. will Somealso attractof these beneficial companion insects that will predate on pests such as mites and aphids. Allow the companion plants to flower or bolt to seed as this is what will attract bees and beneficial bugs.
Recommended companion plants for fruit trees include herbs in the apiaceae/umbelliferae family (named for their flat, umbrella-like flowers) including angelica, caraway, dill, coriander, fennel and parsley, mints, onions, basil, thyme, borage, cosmos, sunflowers, zinnias and alyssum.
Bloom care
Encourage strong spring blossoms by feeding fruit trees with potassium in the form of sulphate of potash in the autumn. This is when the buds in the branches of deciduous fruit trees are differentiating between vegetative and flowering/fruiting buds. The more potassium the trees have at this time, the more flowers will be produced in the following spring. The soft and tender fleshy petals and fragile stamens need to be protected from spring frosts so swathe the trees in frost cloth, or run a sprinkler over the trees through the night when frosts are expected. The water will form a frozen protective layer on the flowers, meaning the blossom isn’t subjected to damage from the short, harsh temperature drop of the frost. ✤