The Sand Cherry

It's a gorgeous day in Laramie (which makes us all wonder what the heck we're doing inside in front of the computer?!), and one of our flowering shrubs on the green roof is starting to bloom to celebrate.

The sand cherry (Prunus pumila v. bessyi) is a drought-tolerant shrub that typically grows 3-5 feet in height - though our relatively shallow growing medium might limit that.

One of the sand cherries on the green roof.

Sand cherries have lovely white flowers in spring and semi-edible fruits in summer (as in they're very tart and might need processing to be palatable - and it's possible that if the seeds are eaten you might experience some unpleasant side effects). 

Flower of the sand cherry

Sand cherry berries - this is not from any of our green roof plants, but if ours produce
cherries, this is what they'll look like!

But it's a tough, attractive shrub that is great for pollinators, so here's hoping it'll keep up the good growth!

Another one of our sand cherries on the green roof.

PS - there was a happy little bumble bee (Bombus huntii) foraging on a Sharpleaf Twinpod today too!

Written by Brenna Marsicek, UW Biodiversity Institute