<h4>You're browser does not support iFrames - here is an exerpt of the content</h4> <a href="http://gardenerstips.co.uk/blog/flowers/trees-and-shrubs/japanese-mume-apricot-or-plum/">Click here to read the article in full</a> <p><a href="http://gardenerstips.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/plum-blossom-2.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2553" title="plum-blossom-2" src="http://gardenerstips.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/plum-blossom-2.jpg" alt="" width="403" height="336" /></a></p> <p>The Japanese have a long and detailed affair with fruit tree blossom. Apricots, Prunus armenaica and Plums, Prunus salicina are well known to western gardeners but what of Mumes.</p> <h3>What are Prunus Mume or Mumes</h3> <ul> <li> The wild Mume has single white or pink flowers in February-March which cluster densely on dark brown branches.</li> <li>The flowers are intensely fragrant that has encouraged the breeding of many 100′s of cultivars throughout Asia.</li> <li>The blossom opens before the Cherry blossom season and is the harbinger of spring.</li> <li>A ‘Mume’ is a green to yellow, downy fruit with a groove running the length of the fruit from the stalk.</li> <li>Prunus mume, commonly known as ‘ume’ is also confusingly called Japanese apricot, or Chinese plum.</li> </ul> <h3>Uses of a Mume</h3> <ul> <li>The tree is cultivated for both fruit and flowers.</li> <li>Old decorative trees are venerated and used near temples.</li> <li>Mume are grown as Bonsai to flower at the new year. Wild varieties perform best.</li> <li>The flowers are the subject of many traditional painting in Japan and Vietnam.</li> <li>The fruit is grown as a crop although it is very sour.</li> <li>In Japan the fruit is dried in the sun and preserved in salt to make a pickle.</li> <li>They can be put with sugar into strong alcohol to make a drink like cherry brandy.</li> </ul> <p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/4887288743_1b1280c266.jpg" alt="" /></p>
