Nanking Cherry vs Rosy Lights Rhododendron (Azalea) - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Rosy Lights Rhododendron (Azalea)

Prunus tomentosa

Rhododendron x Rosy Lights

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

CUSTOM GROW

Nanking Cherry
Rosy Lights Rhododendron (Azalea)

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.

Rosy Lights Rhododendron is the next flowering, deciduous shrub you need in your garden. It is incredibly cold hardy and produces fragrant, bright pink blooms in late spring. Pruning is recommended after the flowers are finished to control the size and shape of this shrub.

Try Rosy Lights Rhododendron when planning your next hedge/screen, or plant it on its own as a striking accent plant. Part of the Northern Lights Series.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Rosy Lights Rhododendron (Azalea) Quick Facts

Zone: 2a
Zone: 4a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 1.2 m (4 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: low
Maintenance: medium


Toxicity: All parts of a rhododendron bush, including the leaves, stems and blooms, are toxic to cats, dogs, and horses.
Fall colour: Maroon
Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: large, pink
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
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