Nanking Cherry vs Red Osier Dogwood - TreeTime.ca

Nanking Cherry vs Red Osier Dogwood

Prunus tomentosa

Cornus sericea

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Nanking Cherry
Red Osier Dogwood

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.

Red Osier Dogwood is a small deciduous shrub that features deep red stems and twigs year-round, with creamy white flowers in the spring. This shrub will add a nice pop of color to your yard.

Red Osier Dogwood is an excellent soil stabilizer. It is fast growing and becomes drought tolerant once well established.

Nanking Cherry Quick Facts

Red Osier Dogwood Quick Facts

Lowest Price: $2.49 - SAVE UP TO 58%
Zone: 2a
Zone: 2a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 2.7 m (9 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 1.8 m (6 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal, wet
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: fast
Life span: short
Life span: medium
Suckering: low
Suckering: medium


Fall colour: dark red
Bark: dark red, showy
Flowers: white, early spring
Flowers: white
Fruit: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: scarlet sweet but slightly tart cherries, 8-12 mm diameter
Berries: white waxy
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


In row spacing: 0.9 m (3 ft)
Between row spacing: 5 m (16 ft)
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, QC, NS, NB, NL, YT, NT, NU, PE
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 dogwood, california dogwood, creek dogwood, dogberry tree, red dogwood, red twig dogwood, redosier dogwood, redstem dogwood, western dogwood