Source: PlantingTree.com (NC)
Size shipped: 6'+ (though advertised as only 4-5'!), in a #5 pot?
Planted: In ground, July 2020
First flowering: Probably at the nursery
Buy one at PlantingTree.com (affiliate link; supports this website)
(This plant stayed behind when I moved in 2021; therefore, the following text will receive no further updates.)
I normally wouldn't order a plant shipped from out of state in the middle of the summer, but this was a late decision, ordered for to replace the autumn Higan cherry that suddenly died in its grow bag, probably of root rot. But unlike with the autumn cherry, the 2020 removal of my yard's Norway maple yielded the sunny exposure needed to plant this Yoshino cherry in the ground. The reason I ordered from PlantingTree.com, besides the fact that they were one of the few sites with the tree in stock when I made the order in July, was to repay them for doing right by me with the 2019 redbuds (and because that first redbud has been performing quite immpressively).
First impressions were favorable, with the tree taller than advertised, having some decent branches (not outstanding, but hey, they had to fit it into a narrow box), and looking healthy. There were some roots that needed to be cut back before they started circling (or often, growing upwards!), but not bad at all. The only major negative was that removing the bamboo stake they included in the shipping box immediately revealed a significant bend in the trunk about halfway up, and by that I mean that the top half of the tree flopped over, by at least 45°. So I'm leaving the stake in place for at least until the winter.
All in all, this will continue to incline me towards buying again from PlantingTree in the future; it's just a shame their selection is limited, their plant catalog isn't easy to navigate, and they don't carry anything I'm interested in that I can't get elsewhere...
I can also report that clipping branches at the beginning of March to take indoors has been quite effective, with the buds showing new bits of green almost the same day they were brought in. Natural flowering time in 2021 came in early- to mid-April, coinciding pretty well with the cherry blossoms in Newark. It looked a bit odd with the tree's still-sparse habit but will certainly look more effective when there are more branches to flower. And the blooms smell nice too, though I had to get pretty close to notice (presumably this will also improve with more growth and more density of blooms).