Hanami(Sakura flower viewing season) is almost upon us here in Japan, but I couldn't wait. So when my wife and I were at Costco yesterday we stopped by Cainz, a home center store. There I found a sakura tree and forced my wife to let me buy it.
The tree was only $7.90 and in full bloom! I was ecstatic to get it. However, my wife reminded me you can't just get the tree. We had to get a pot for it $20, a spill tray $5 and potting soil $5 too.
Check, check, check.
As we continued to shop we came across this really cool display. It's a bucket filled with dirt and potatoes you can grow and harvest your own potatoes!
The reason it's so cool is the brand, Calbee, is a huge potato chip brand in Japan. In addition it's great for kids to experience something like this in the big city?
Back to my sakura tree. The species is called Prunus x subhirtella, Higan Cherry. Before I bought it I had no idea there are quite a few varieties of sakura trees. The Higan cherry is an early blooming sakura, again, something I didn't know about. It's more resilient to temperatures than other sakura trees making it great for Japan.
An additional bonus of this tree is it can bloom in the fall!
The blossoms start out as a deep, red bud. As they bloom the petals become pink. Towards the end of the blooming the petals will turn light pink/white and fall off.
The tree requires at least 4hrs of sunlight a day so we were thinking about where we could put it in our concrete mansion. Out on our window terrace?
Just inside of the window?
We settled on putting it in our living room next to our entertainment center. It sits on the floor and get's direct sunlight from the veranda window.
Last night my wife said to me, "I love the tree. It adds much needed beauty to our home". I couldn't agree more and actually feel blessed to have found the only tree blooming at Cainz. Timing is everything in life.
One last note, the blossoms do have a scent. It's a very light, slightly sweet, flower scent.
Thanks for reading and thank you to @dswigle for the #MarketFriday community.
