Plum blossom has been cultivated in China for at least 3000 years, and was introduced to Japan as early as 700 AD. At present, Japanese plum cultivation is the most prosperous in the world except China. Japan is rich in cherry blossoms and has a long history of cultivation. Japanese people regard it as the national flower. There are many kinds of Japanese cherry blossoms, with more than 800 recorded. Cherry blossoms were also cultivated in ancient China, but it was not until the Tang Dynasty that Li Shangyin's "Where is Zheng Ai, it is urgent to manage, and the cherry blossoms hang down on the sunny shore" began to be mentioned. Because cherry blossoms and cherries are similar in shape, some records in China ancient books are rather vague. At present, some botanists regard cherry as a strain of cherry blossoms.
There are many varieties of plum blossom and cherry blossom. Plum blossoms have straight branches, pendulous branches and even dragons. There are two kinds of cherry blossoms: straight branches and pendulous branches, but Longyou cherry blossoms have never been seen before. Plum blossom and cherry blossom have five colors: white, pink, red, yellow, green and white. Plum blossoms and cherry blossoms have single petals and double petals. Plum blossoms have as many as 84' money green calyx' and cherry blossoms have as many as 200' chrysanthemum cherry'. Plum blossoms and cherry blossoms all have pedicels facing up, and some have pedicels facing down. However, there are few plum blossoms with downward pedicels, such as' bone red shines on water', and there are few cherry blossoms with upward pedicels, such as' broom'. Plum blossoms generally bloom in February (taking Wuhan as an example) and cherry blossoms generally bloom in March (taking Wuhan as an example), but both plum blossoms and cherry blossoms bloom in autumn, which is an abnormal secondary flowering phenomenon caused by premature defoliation caused by drought. However, there are also such autumn flowering varieties in cherry blossoms, such as' Four Seasons Sakura', which bloom more in spring and summer and less in autumn; The flowers of most varieties of plum blossoms are fragrant, only a few varieties are tasteless, such as plum blossoms, while the flowers of most varieties of cherry blossoms are tasteless, and only some varieties are fragrant, such as Japanese late cherry blossoms.
There are many similarities between plum blossom and cherry blossom in physiological habits and cultivation management. If everyone likes deep, fertile and well-drained soil, it is necessary to avoid planting low-lying land with stagnant water; Both plum blossom and cherry blossom can be propagated by bud grafting. Plum blossoms can use peaches and apricots as rootstocks, and cherries can use cherries as rootstocks, but the grafting of plum blossoms and cherry blossoms is unsuccessful. Plum blossoms and cherry blossoms are sensitive to organophosphorus pesticides (such as dichlorvos) when using chemicals to control pests and diseases, so special attention should be paid when spraying chemicals. But they are also different in some habits, for example, plum blossoms have strong germination and are resistant to pruning, while cherry blossoms have weak germination and are resistant to pruning. There is a saying that cherry blossoms are stupid without pruning. In addition, plum blossom and cherry blossom have certain cold tolerance, but cherry blossom is slightly stronger than plum blossom.