Two outstanding flowering small trees – ‘ming’ cherry and ‘muckle’ plum

story and photos by Wilbert ronald

‘Ming’ cherry. ‘Muckle’ plum.

Some plants arise from years of dedicated cross breeding, selection and testing but others have come from unexpected sources. The two plants we are writing about both arose in unusual ways. Some breeders might call a new plant a “chance” seedling if it arose like the singular distinct ‘Ming’ cherry. In the case of the ‘Muckle’ plum, it appears to have arisen as the only seedling from a controlled cross or natural hybridization between two nearby plum species in the garden of the originator. Both the ‘Ming’ cherry and the ‘Muckle’ plum are therefore one-of-a-kind plants that really are garden gems.

‘Ming’ cherry

‘Ming’ originated in the fruit program at the University of Saskatchewan as an off-type seedling in the sour cherry program. It has been commercialized for close to 15 years and has shown potential as a small specimen tree. ‘Ming’ can be most usefully compared to the Amur cherry, of which it appears to be a hybrid. The second parent is presumed to be a sour cherry hybrid (Prunus fruticosa). ‘Ming’ has several outstanding traits which have been recognized and led to grower interest and a recent surge of landscape interest. • The trunk is sturdy and straight and has no winter bark splitting, which is seen in Amur cherry. • The branching form and branch sturdiness is noteworthy. • Dark green foliage and only a few small fruits mean the tree does not become messy or weedy. • White flowers appear in early

Bark of the ‘Ming’ cherry. spring that add to landscape interest. • Bark colour is a copper-brown colour which is unique for northern Zone 2-3 areas. • Fall foliage colour is golden and develops in early October. • Propagation by softwood cuttings produces own-rooted trees. • The tree does not sprout from the basal crown nor does it exhibit root suckers. • Winter hardiness has been outstanding, all testing would indicate at least Zone 2 hardiness. • There are no serious diseases noted such as stem black knot or leaf scorch.

The ultimate size of a ‘Ming’ cherry tree is open to question as there are few specimens more than 15 years old, but it will mature to a small tree much like other prairie tree cherries. Under good nursery conditions, it grows quickly to a height of 12 feet in 3 years from a 6-foot liner tree. We expect it to mature to 25 feet in height with a trunk of 8 to 12 inches at 15 years. Because the tree is immune to any current disease and insect pests, we see no reason why the tree won’t have a long life span.

The above features of the ‘Ming’ cherry are significant improvements and have taken some time to become known but with each passing year this cherry has attracted more interest from growers and landscapers. It has now become a reliable item in Zone 2-3 and should do very well in more favourable Zones as well. It is truly a garden gem in small trees.

‘Muckle’ plum

The second tree is one we have grown for many years, but it remains a collector’s tree even though it does have some very unique features. The Western Canadian Society for Horticulture in its 1956 history of prairie horticulture book, Development of Horticulture on the Canadian Prairies: an Historical Review, reports under the heading R. M. Muckle, Clandeboye, Manitoba: “Muckle plum, Prunus nigra x P. tenella. Named after the originator, following his death, by the Morden Experimental Farm.” Unfortunately not much more was said about the tree as to which species was the female parent in the cross or whether it was a chance natural hybrid or a controlled cross made by the originator. ‘Muckle’ plum has been totally sterile as far as is known so no further breeding work was done with it. To our knowledge no one has duplicated the cross in the intervening years. A list of features is not as extensive as for the ‘Ming’ cherry but there are several.

Flowers of the ‘Ming’ cherry.

• Healthy green foliage and single pink flowers • No known disease or insect problems • Plant is sterile so there are no fruit, and flowering period is longer than in some plums • Propagation by budding on plum seedlings or by own rooted propagation

The ultimate size of a ‘Muckle’ plum tree would be about 15 feet but the tree is so uncommon that mature specimens are rarely encountered. The Jeffries Nurseries company has been responsible for bringing this tree into production in the nursery trade. We would like to see some enterprising plant breeder make further gains in the pink-flowered plum family. Apart from flowering crabapples, ‘Muckle’ is your one option for a pink flowered small tree in northern 2 and 3 Zones and with its single pink flowers it stands unique among prairie plums. While not as strong growing as the Japanese cherries used in very favoured climatic zones such as Vancouver and Washington, DC, ‘Muckle’ has the pink flowers that mark out the tender Japanese cherries. ‘Muckle’ plum will give the gardener a most unique pink flowered May bloom which has no peer in tree form pink-flowered cherries for the cold zones of the northern US states and Canadian prairie provinces.

If you are searching for a unique small tree then either the ‘Ming’ cherry or the ‘Muckle’ plum will give that special plant for the garden. Both are still relatively rare plants which we expect to see more of in the future as gardeners learn their good qualities. j