The Okame Cherry tree is one of the earliest of the flowering cherries.  Before the leaves appear, its carmine-pink petals, with rose-red calyx and reddish flower stalks, open fully and last 2 to 3 weeks.  What a wonderful and consistent year-to-year blooming habit!   The fruits of this tree are small, and not ornamentally important.

The Okame grows to a height of  20-30' with a similar spread.  When young, the tree displays a broad-columnar habit, and as it ages, it develops a more rounded habit.  It does best in moist, well-drained soil, but will adapt to a variety of soils, as long as they are not wet.  It makes a fine specimen tree and should be sited where it can be easily seen in late winter/early spring.  The Okame requires full sun or light shade and has an excellent heat and cold tolerance.

This deciduous ornamental tree has an attractive dark red-orange fall color, and the shiny reddish brown bark provides some winter interest.  Flowering is its main feature, yet the Okame can be considered an all seasons plant with its attractive bark and fall color.  Okame's growth is medium-fast, especially when young, so it will grow 1 to 2 feet or more per year; thrives in zones 6-9.