PlantFiles: Japanese Flowering Apricot
Prunus mume

The degree of fragrance is said to vary quite a bit from seedling to seedling, but some are powerfully fragrant during warm spells in zone 7 from January into March and about as close to heaven as your nose can get outdoors in between ice storms around here.

The following seed germination guides to Prunus mume are heavily quoted and paraphrased from the given sources:

1) From [HYPERLINK@www.fragrantpathseeds.com] - [Sow in a pot filled with a medium of peat mixed with perlite or sand. Enclose the pot in a baggy and either place the arrangement outdoors where it will be exposed to frost action during winter or in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 months. Alternatively, sow in a prepared spot in the fall, where it will be weeded and watered occasionally.]

If putting the pot outdoors for winter, be sure the pot has at least a 4" depth of medium so that it won't dry out too easily. See [HYPERLINK@www.wintersown.org] and the DG Winter Sowing Forum for details about watering and drainage of wintersown containers.

2) In addition to The Fragrant Path's instructions above, it might be a good idea to keep in mind a couple of other germination facts for Prunus mume from [HYPERLINK@www.b-and-t-world-seeds.com] - [seeds can take up to 120 - 365 days to germinate; light required for germination, but Gibberellic Acid-3 (GA-3) will promote germination in the dark as well as with light.]

Wll grow as an understory tree.Flowers very early (January)
Well before it leaves out.

can grow in sandy
loam
clay
well drained soil types

very pretty tree and attracts many bees and smells wonderful.

Relatively unknown in the U.S., despite acclaim by many garden writers, this Japanese native should be more widely grown - sturdy, pest resistant, and often blooming weeks before other plants bud out. In the colder zones, this may cause the blooms to be killed by frost, but the buds are staggered, and will continue to flower after cold spells. For maximum enjoyment, plant one in a sheltered spot where you can enjoy its fragrant flowers in relative comfort (and the blooms will be somewhat protected from cold snaps.)