Gardeners across the world anticipate the arrival of cherry blossom every year, because it proves that spring has really sprung. However, you may not realise that many named Japanese cherries were originally collected as spontaneous seedlings in the Japanese countryside over centuries. Constant propagation and their age has tended to diminish their vigour and health, but a number of new, hybrid flowering cherries, incorporating the best qualities of both parents have been raised by a retired school teacher named Masatoshi Asari.
As a young man, Mr Asari was one of several volunteer custodians who looked after an important collection of (flowering cherries) planted in Matsumae Park in Hokkaido. His family had suffered greatly during the Second World War, and he wanted to Mo, or protector of cherry trees, in his homeland.
