Spring blossom needs summer heat, so find a warm spot for that prunus, says VAL BOURNE

I believe that every garden should have at least one flowering prunus, whether it's a cherry, an almond or an apricot. I also think it should be an early one, because these small trees produce delicate flowers, in shades of white or pink, on darkly bare branches.

It's an irresistible combination when set against a winter sky.

One of the earliest is the Japanese apricot, Prunus mume. My crimson-madder one, Ben-chidori', is already over, although in a normal year it wouldn't begin to flower until March.

I do have to confess that my Ben-chidori' is still in its pot, an impulse buy on a day when the car was already over-burdened. But I have enjoyed its almond-scented blossom and now I have to decide where to plant it, for Prunus mume likes a warm, sheltered spot. These are few and far between in my cold, exposed garden.

The temptation would be to tuck it away, but Prunus mume needs the summer sun to ripen its wood, because it produces buds months before they open. Indeed, dear readers, it is a universal truth that early-flowering trees and shrubs almost always need summer sun to ripen the wood.

My own Ben-chidori' is grafted and, in a windy garden like mine, it may yet come to grief and snap at the graft point. By next year I may well be giving it an obituary - but I hope not.

I'm heartened by the fact that I saw Prunus mume in blossom in February when I visited the gardens of Kyoto in Japan. Anyone who's been to Kyoto in February will know how damp and cold it is - far worse than England. So if Prunus mume can flower in Kyoto in February, it could do well with me!

Perhaps I should have bought a tougher candidate like Prunus incisa Praecox', a precocious form of the Fuji Cherry from from South West Japan. Incisa means "deeply and irregularly cut" and refers to the serrated edges on the leaves. The blossom can be pink or white and the saucer-shaped, February flowers come in clusters of twos and threes.

The lovely 'Mikinori', a semi-double white, is named after the Japanese botanist and plant collector Mikinori Ogisu. This legendary plant hunter can often be found at the RHS Vincent Square show in February. He has collected many wonderful plants, including lots of hepaticas and epimediums.

I may also seek out Prunus Kursar' for March and April bloom. It was bred by Collingwood Cherry' Ingram (1880-1981) and has clusters of deep-pink, single flowers. Cherry Ingram was a leading authority on flowering cherries and encouraged many to plant them. Pink cherries, usually quite a hard-pink, demand a simple planting scheme and the purple-blue bulb, Scilla biflora, snowdrops or purple-blue crocus would look well.

Any day now, we gardeners will be able to start sowing and planting vegetables, after a warm but wet winter. I have a new allotment and I'm itching to get going. But the temperature is still a little low and the soil far too wet. With vegetables, timing is everything. So be patient.