Nanking Cherry vs Mongolian Cherry - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Mongolian Cherry

Prunus tomentosa

Prunus fruticosa

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Nanking Cherry
Mongolian Cherry

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.

Mongolian Cherry is a hardy shrub that is often grown as an ornamental. This plant makes an attractive flowering hedgerow that requires little maintenance. The dark red cherries are tart and desirable for baking, wine-making, and canning. This shrub is popular with wildlife.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Mongolian Cherry Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 2a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: low
Suckering: medium


Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: clusters of white flowers
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Fruit: tart dark red cherry
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


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: dwarf cherry, european dwarf cherry, steppe cherry