Prunus Sato-zakura Group
Japanese flowering cherries
A simple timetable for cherry blossom season
Approx. peak bloom period | Variety |
---|---|
early April | Prunus × yedoensis ‘Somei-yoshino’, Yoshino cherry |
mid April | Prunus × yedoensis ‘Akebono’, Akebono cherry |
mid April | Prunus × subhirtella ‘Pendula’, weeping higan cherry |
mid April | Prunus (Sato-zakura Group) ‘Mt. Fuji’, Mt. Fuji flowering cherry |
late April | Prunus (Sato-zakura Group) ‘Amanogawa’, Amanogawa flowering cherry |
late April–early May | Prunus (Sato-zakura Group) ‘Kwanzan’, Kwanzan flowering cherry |

On April 16, 2020, the newly landscaped southeast courtyard of the Outer Quad was dedicated as the Oregon Courtyard, in honor of alumni and friends from Oregon who contributed to the restoration of the Language Corner buildings following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The courtyard landscape’s design mirrored the layout of the Thomas Church courtyard at the Geology Corner, but used early-flowering ‘Mt. Fuji’ (‘Shirotae’) cherry trees as the canopy trees around the central area and columnar ‘Amanogawa’ cherries on the periphery. (The Thomas Church courtyard uses Chinese fringe tree for canopy and a mix of waxleaf privet topiary and citrus at the edges.) The cherry trees were a gift of the Gifu Cherry Blossom Association, several dozen members of which attended the dedication in their bright fuchsia happi coats.
The Japanese flowering cherries have long been considered in the West to be cultivars of P. serrulata. Given that they are mostly hybrids of P. speciosa, or selections thereof, they are designated here as members of the Sato-zakura (village or cultivated cherries) Group. Our ‘Amanogawa’ bloom a couple of weeks later than the ‘Mt. Fuji’; thus around mid to late April you will see the former ramping up towards full bloom while the latter leafing out, their flowers fast fading.
Popular cultivar ‘Kwanzan’ (‘Kanzan’) has deep pink, voluptuously ruffled blossoms and blooms the last of them all, holding its flowers for the longest. It can be seen on the right of Ventura Hall, in the center of the relocated Amy Blue Memorial Garden behind Building 60, and in the History Corner at Building 20. A row is on the left of 780 Welch Road.
‘Shogetsu’ had been planted in the original location of the Amy Blue Memorial Garden in the old Serra Complex which was replaced by the Knight Management Center.
Gallery




About this Entry: Authored Mar 2025 by Sairus Patel.