The Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry, otherwise known as the Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ or Formosa Firethorn ‘Santa Cruz’, Taiwan Firethorn ‘Santa Cruz’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and slow growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The fundamental caring guidelines for every Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry can be summed up into the following:
- Water: The Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
- Light: Keep your Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, loam, and clay.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry belongs to the Rosaceae family, the genus Pyracantha and the species Koidzumii, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ (PROO-nus).
Other popular Rosaceae plants include species like Yellow Lady Banks Climbing Rose, Crown of Rays Goldenrod, Callery Pear ‘Bradford’, Dwarf Cherry ‘Meteor’, Malus ‘Yellow Delicious’, Rock Spray, Magnolia X ‘Daybreak’, Malus Domestica, Flowering Quince, Ninebark ‘Diablo’, Blenheim Apricot, Prunus Cerasifera ‘Krauter Vesuvius’, Thundercloud Cherry Plum, Prunus Persica Var. Nucipersica ‘Snow Queen’, Floribunda rose ‘Golden Beauty’, Climbing Rose ‘Golden Showers’, Large-Flowered Climber, Rosa X ‘New Dawn’, Spiraea Japonica ‘Conspiyet’, Alchemilla Mollis ‘Thriller’, Everlasting Thorn ‘Kasan’, Spiraea × arguta ‘Grefsheim’, Fuji Apple, Ramanas Rose, Versailles Laurel, Prunus Salicina ‘Ozark Premier’, Alyssum Serpyllifolium, Photinia pyriflolia, Prostanthera Cuneata ‘Badja Peak’, Cosmos Atrosanguineus, Berri-Magic® Japanese Skimmia, Raspberry ‘Anne’, Photinia melanocarpa, Cecile Brunner Climbing Rose, Frosty® Potentilla, Gold Tide® Forsythia, Prunus Serrulata ‘Kwanzan’ and Malus ‘Red Delicious’.
As with other Pyracantha’s, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry is a deciduous plant, which means it will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
Growing Region
The Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry is a plant native to the Taiwan.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a, 10b, 10a and the ideal climate zone is between 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ can grow up to 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) in 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) and 6′ – 10′ (180cm – 3m) in 6′ – 10′ (180cm – 3m).
These dimensions make the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry a relatively large shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful weeping shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 72″ – 120″ (180cm – 300cm) free so the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ prefers constant watering each week and more during the hot season.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low to average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, loam, and clay.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a deciduous plant, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry to flower around the spring and in the summer months from April to June (spring), and from July to September (summer).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry produces some beautiful white, or white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a alternate organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ to be around (1-3 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry is well known for being able to attract birds, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for drought conditions, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Prunus X ‘Snofozam’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most contemporary, asian/zen and cottage gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, hedges and screens, banks and slopes, ground covers, and in wall-side borders, others use it for landscaping in a specimen, container, espalier, or a urban garden.
Companion Plants
Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Viburnum, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Syringa will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Snow Fountains® Weeping Cherry in your garden or home.
