Nanking Cherry vs Wild Snowberry - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Wild Snowberry

Prunus tomentosa

Symphoricarpos spp.

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(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

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Nanking Cherry
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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.

Wild Snowberry is a mix of Common Snowberry and Western Snowberry. Each shrub's size, flower, and berry colour may vary.

This plant is abundant across the prairies. It can be planted alone or as a hedge in small yards. This shrub's ornamental berries persist into winter. Wild Snowberry can be a natural habitat and food source for various animals.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Wild Snowberry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: low
Suckering: medium


Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: white and occasionally pinkish
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: showy white berries persist into winter
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB
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: coralberry, ghostberry, waxberry, wolfberry