Nanking Cherry vs Silverberry (Wolf Willow) - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Silverberry (Wolf Willow)

Prunus tomentosa

Elaeagnus commutata

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(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Nanking Cherry
Silverberry (Wolf Willow)

Nanking Cherry is a small deciduous shrub known for its attractive white blossoms and edible fruit. Its dark red berries are excellent for pies, jellies, and even fresh eating.

Nanking Cherry is highly regarded as a shade tolerant fruit. We often see it planted as a hedge on the north side of a house where few other plants will survive, let alone thrive.

Expect fruit mid to late July. The fruit can vary in sweetness and size considerably. We often hear that people prefer it to sour cherries. Perhaps this is because Nanking Cherry is more closely related to plums. In fact, it is sometimes used as a dwarfing rootstock for plums.

Silverberry (also known as Wolf Willow) is a common native North American shrub. This beautiful ornamental plant has characteristic silver leaves and fragrant yellow flowers.

Its silver berries remain on the branches through the winter. Silverberry is cold hardy and has some ability as a nitrogen fixer. It can grow on dry to moist sandy/gravel soils. This plant is very low maintenance.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Silverberry (Wolf Willow) Quick Facts

Lowest Price: $3.99 - SAVE UP TO 43%
Zone: 2a
Zone: 1a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: dry, normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: low
Suckering: high


Foliage: silvery leaves
Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: yellow
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: silver, edible
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, YT, NT, NU
Other Names: ando cherry, chinese bush cherry, chinese dwarf cherry, downy cherry, hansens bush cherry, korean cherry, manchu cherry, mountain cherry, shanghai cherry
Other Names: american silverberry, silver berry, wolf willow