Blooming welcome

Where garden space is limited Prunus incisa should be the cherry of choice.

Its blossom comes early, the autumn colour is spectacular and even the leaves are interesting.

No flower is as mysteriously winsome as the cherry, but then spring flowers have always touched a soft streak in human nature. If I were in Japan now, the plum, peach, and cherry trees would be flowering in due season, even though bitter winds and vicious scuds of snow often mingle with the falling petals.