KYOTO—An ume blossom that sprouted at the Kitano Tenmangu shrine here in early March is a world first that bloomed on a cloned Japanese apricot tree using tissue culture technology. The dark ...

apricot) follows its own unique blooming cycle. Cherry trees are some of the earliest to bloom, but they are followed up by the delicate pinks of peach blossoms and culminate with cottony whites ...