Is It Good Feng Shui to Plant Plum Blossoms in a Home Courtyard? Precious Varieties and Cultivation Tips

Mei, also known as plum tree or plum blossom, is a small tree, rarely a shrub, 4-10 m tall; it ranks first among China's ten most famous flowers, blooming in winter and spring, with fruit from May to June. So can plum blossoms be planted in a home courtyard? Is it good feng shui? What precious plum blossom varieties are there? What are the cultivation tips?

Can plum blossoms be planted in a home courtyard? Is it good feng shui?

Generally, plum blossoms are not planted in courtyards because the name sounds like “mold”. Planting them outside the yard or in a garden is fine. Of course, this was the emphasis of most ancient people, and some people did not care about it, such as the Northern Song poet Lin Bu, who was crazy about plum blossoms, and the Qing dynasty writer Gong Zizhen, who planted plum trees in their courtyards.

What precious plum blossom varieties are there?

1. Gongfen Mei

Gongfen Mei belongs to the Gongfen type of upright-branch plums in the true plum (Zhenmei) strain of plum blossom. Its flowers are semi-double to double and range from deep to light red. Gongfen Mei is an ornamental flowering plum with dense blooms and light red flowers; what is especially rare is that it gives off a rather rich fragrance.

2. Zhusha Mei

Zhusha Mei belongs to the upright-foot plum type of the true plum strain. Its branches extend straight or slanting, neither drooping into an arch nor twisting. The calyx is purplish red; single, double, or semi-double; petals deep red; the xylem of new twigs is deep red.

3. Hongmei

Hongmei is a type of plum blossom, a deciduous small tree in the Rosaceae family, Prunus genus. The plant is about 10 m tall, the trunk is brownish purple with many longitudinal fissures, and the twigs are green.

4. Da Hongmei

Da Hongmei is a plant in the Rosaceae family, Prunus genus. The branches are upright or slanting, similar to the Gongfen type but with bright red flowers, extremely dense blooming, and a very strong sweet fragrance. This is a red plum in the apricot-plum (Xingmei) strain, and there is another one with larger and even more vivid flowers called Dahua Mei. It is actually double-flowered, with flowers larger and fuller than ordinary plum blossoms.

5. Da Hongmei

Da Hongmei is a plant in the Rosaceae family, Prunus genus. The branches are upright or slanting, similar to the Gongfen type but with bright red flowers, extremely dense blooming, and a very strong sweet fragrance. This is a red plum in the apricot-plum (Xingmei) strain, and there is another one with larger and even more vivid flowers called Dahua Mei. It is actually double-flowered, with flowers larger and fuller than ordinary plum blossoms.

6. Lü'e Mei

Lü'e Mei, also known as sour plum or dark plum. It is a type of plum blossom in the Rosaceae family, Prunus genus, and a tree plant. Flowers are solitary or sometimes 2 born together in 1 bud, strongly fragrant, opening before the leaves; pedicels short, about 1-3 mm long, usually hairless; calyx usually reddish brown, but there are some varieties whose calyx is green or green-purple, with a diameter of 2-2.5 cm; calyx tube broadly bell-shaped, hairless or sometimes pubescent; sepals ovate or nearly round, apex rounded and blunt; petals obovate, white to pink; stamens short or slightly longer than the petals; ovary densely pubescent, style short or slightly longer than the stamens. It likes light and is suitable for a sunny, well-ventilated environment.

7. Jinqian Lü'e Mei

Jinqian Lü'e Mei has moderately dense flowers, blooming from late March to early April, flower diameter 3.4-3.6 cm, buds pale cream-yellow, flower shape butterfly-like, nearly flat-spreading, flower color creamy white on the front and very pale yellow-green on the back; petals 40-84. The flowers are strongly fragrant and occasionally set fruit. The flowers are extra large and the petals extra double, making it an excellent variety.

8. Yudie Mei

Yudie Mei is a plant in the Rosaceae family, Prunus genus, a perennial shrub, 4-10 m tall; bark light gray or tinged with green, smooth; twigs green, smooth and hairless.

9. Sajin Mei

Sajin Mei belongs to the Sajin type of upright-branch plums in the true plum (Zhenmei) strain of plum blossom. Sajin Mei not only has unusual flower colors, but most also bloom profusely with compact branch forms, making them suitable for bonsai and cut flowers. Flowers are single, semi-double, or double, with flower color mainly white, but every white flower must be sprinkled with red streaks or red spots; sometimes a cluster of white flower branches throws out a few red petals, and even a whole tree can throw out a few branches of red flowers.

10. Meiren Mei

Meiren Mei is a deciduous small tree or shrub, introduced from France. It was bred by crossing double pink plum blossom with red-leaf plum. Leaves ovate, leaf margin finely serrate, leaf surface with short pubescence, flower color light purple, double flowers, opening before the leaves, calyx tube broadly bell-shaped, sepals 5, nearly round to flat-round, petals 15-17, small petals 5-6, pedicel 1.5 cm, stamens numerous. Purplish red. Flowers pink, dense, flowering before leafing out.

11. Weeping Plum

Weeping Plum, Rosaceae, distributed in the Yangtze River basin and areas to the south, likes a warm climate, is relatively drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging, and is a courtyard ornamental plant. The branches naturally droop or slant downward, and the flowers come in red, pink, and white. Weeping Plum, Rosaceae, distributed in the Yangtze River basin and areas to the south, likes a warm climate, is relatively drought-tolerant and afraid of waterlogging, and is a courtyard ornamental plant. The branches naturally droop or slant downward, and the flowers come in red, pink, and white.

12. Xingmei

Xingmei, also called “yangmei” or Heding Mei (from the Complete Book of Farming and Gardening), known in Japan as “Bungo Mei”, “E Mei”, etc. Apricot and plum are two different tree species in the Rosaceae family, each with unique traits, while the natural hybrid of apricot (or mountain apricot) and plum contains both apricot traits and plum traits. The plum blossoms of the Xingmei strain have high ornamental value, with large flower diameter, bright flower color, and a long flowering period.

What are the cultivation tips for plum blossoms?

1. To give plum blossoms a graceful tree shape and strong growth vigor, annual pruning is indispensable. In the vigorous growth season, the branches should be pinched back, allowing them to grow only to a height of 20-30 cm. At the same time, sprouts sent out from the rootstock should be cut off at any time, and diseased and weak branches and inner-canopy branches should be cut off promptly.

2. The suckers growing from the rootstock should be removed at any time. After plum blossoms bloom, they should also be pruned, leaving only 3 to 5 buds at the base of each branch. When the branches sprout in spring, bud thinning should also be carried out so that nutrients can be distributed reasonably; only in this way can plum blossoms grow more beautiful and robust for viewing.

3. Watering method:

In winter and spring, plum blossoms do not need much water; keeping the pot soil moist is enough. In summer and autumn, plum blossoms need the most water, and they should be watered when the soil is dry. However, from June to July, when flower buds begin to differentiate, watering should be reduced so that the plum leaves curl slightly before watering again; only in this way can the flowers bloom more beautifully.

4. Fertilization method:

Plum blossoms like fertilizer, but fertilizer should be supplied timely and in appropriate amounts. From late spring to early summer, a thin liquid fertilizer can be applied once about every 10 days. From late winter to early spring, when the flower buds of plum blossoms begin to grow noticeably until just before they color, a thin liquid fertilizer should be applied once every 5 days so that the plum blossoms open with vivid color and fragrance.