Meiren Mei (Prunus mume 'Meiren') sapling prices, flowering time, and how it differs from elm-leaved plum and red plum

Meiren Mei is a deciduous small tree or shrub, introduced from France. It was created by hybridizing double-petaled pink-type mei (Prunus mume) with red-leaf plum (Prunus cerasifera). It is propagated by grafting, layering and cuttings. So how much does a Meiren Mei sapling cost per plant? When does it bloom? How does it differ from elm-leaved plum and red plum? According to Rosaceae data, the natural flowering period of Meiren Mei begins with the first bloom in March, then opens gradually from top to bottom through mid-April. Purple-red. The flowers are pink, borne in dense masses, flowering before the leaves emerge. The flowering season is spring. It likes a sunny, well-ventilated, open environment. It requires deep, well-drained soil rich in organic matter.

How much does a Meiren Mei sapling cost per plant?

How does Meiren Mei differ from elm-leaved plum and red plum?

1. Elm-leaved plum (Prunus triloba): flowers 1-2 per node, opening before the leaves, 2-3 cm in diameter; pedicels 4-8 mm long; calyx tube broadly campanulate, 3-5 mm long, hairless or slightly hairy when young; sepals ovate or ovate-lanceolate, hairless, with sparse small serrations near the tip; petals nearly round or broadly obovate, 6-10 mm long, tip rounded and blunt, sometimes slightly notched, pink; stamens about 25-30, shorter than the petals; ovary densely covered with short soft hairs, style slightly longer than the stamens. Fruit nearly spherical, 1-1.8 cm in diameter, with a short small tip at the apex, red, covered with short soft hairs; fruiting stalk 5-10 mm long; flesh thin, splitting open when ripe; stone nearly spherical, with a thick hard shell, 1-1.6 cm in diameter, scarcely flattened on either side, apex rounded and blunt, surface with irregular network ridges. Flowering April-May, fruiting May-July.

A horticultural hybrid, created by crossing double-petaled pink-type mei (Prunus mume) with red-leaf plum (Prunus cerasifera). Deciduous small tree. Leaves ovate-round, 5-9 cm long, purple-red, ovate-elliptic. Flowers pink, borne in dense masses, 1-2 per long, medium and short flowering branch, flowering before the leaves, flowering season spring, flowers and leaves appearing together, flower color light purple, double-petaled, opening before the leaves, calyx tube broadly campanulate, 5 sepals, nearly round to flat-round, petals 15-17, small petals 5-6 mei, pedicel 1.5 cm, stamens numerous, natural flowering period begins with the first bloom on March 18, then opens gradually from top to bottom through mid-April.

2. Meiren Mei: flower form nearly butterfly-shaped, petals layered and loosely overlapping, petal edges wavy and fluttering, flower center often with small fragmented petals, graceful and varied. Flower color from very pale purple to light purple, slightly deeper on the reverse, the flower center also deeper in color; petals 19-28, plus 0-1 petal transformed from stamens; sepals 5, slightly flat-round, pale green with a faint sprinkle of pale purple-red blush, edges with a pale red-purple blush, finely toothed, recurved to strongly recurved. Flowers have long purple stalks, often hanging like threads; stamens radiating, much shorter than the petals, filaments pale purple-red, anthers small, earth-yellow to salmon-red. Pistil 1, suffused with purple blush, lower part of the style hairy, well developed or fairly well developed. Flowers fragrant, but not the typical mei fragrance.

Sometimes bears fruit. Fruit skin bright purple-red, the mei flesh can be eaten fresh.

3. Red plum: flowers 1-2 per node, stalkless or with short stalks, flowers pale pink or red; cultivated varieties also have purple, red and other flower colors, opening in early spring before the leaves. Mei can be divided into series, classes and types. Such as the true mei series, apricot mei series, cherry-plum mei series and so on. Below the series are classes, and below the classes are types.

Appendix: How to grow Meiren Mei

1. Meiren Mei is propagated mainly by sowing, and also by cuttings; the difficulty is that the propagation quantity is small and the technical experience of cutting propagation is not easy to master. Compared with sowing, it is more expensive and subject to many restrictions, so planting is not recommended. The most effective sowing seasons are mid-February, early March, April and late May, with slight differences from place to place.

2. Soak the seeds in water for 2 days, then take them out and rub off the outer fleshy skin. Prepare the seedling land in advance; the soil environment must be loose, airy, sandy soil, convenient for later lifting and dividing the seedlings; level and crush the soil, and mix in an appropriate amount of rotted sheep manure. Then scatter the seeds evenly over the seedling land, cover with a thin 2 cm layer of soil, and cover with a heat-preserving film; the seeds sprout in about 8-11 days, and the seedlings are divided and transplanted in 18-22 days. In one year the seedlings can grow to 1.4-1.8 m tall, with a thickness of ~3 cm. Meiren Mei's permanent roots are rather thick and it has relatively few fibrous roots, so in the second year the roots need to be cut and the plants divided, to stimulate more root growth, and the main root should be cut off.

3. Meiren Mei has a growth rate similar to that of goldenrain tree (Koelreuteria), and during the growing period it definitely needs a lot of fertilizer. Artificially planted Meiren Mei can reach a thickness of 7 cm in one year of growth; at our base Meiren Mei grows to 9 cm in 2 years. For 1 m tall saplings, the recommended planting spacing is 2.2*2.6 m; apply fertilizer ~3 times in spring and summer, using 60 kg of chemical fertilizer per mu each time, and irrigate together after fertilizing. Meiren Mei drops its leaves very early in late autumn, so apply an appropriate amount of fertilizer in early autumn. In winter apply a base fertilizer such as sheep manure, pig manure or cow manure, ~4 tons per mu, which adds slow-release fertilizer and can also improve the soil composition. There is no need to worry about over-fertilizing; it is impossible for the seedlings to be burned, the difficulty is frequent irrigation.