Kyle, your inquiry is soooooo general, I'm not sure how anyone could really address it. There are hundreds of threads, here on GardenWeb, about cherries, so you might start by reviewing some of them. There is no real one-size-fits-all "perfect" cherry that you should choose.

One I would consider looking at is Prunus serrulata 'Shirotae' or the Mt. Fuji flowering cherry. Needs some time to mature properly but when it does, it forms a broad, flat topped canopy and plethora of double white flowers. One of the most stunning ornamental cherries when in bloom and a pretty handsome tree even when out of bloom. (And that's saying a lot for me as I don't really care for flowering cherries in general!!)

Brandon: gardengal addressed it exactly how I had hoped someone would. I'm not looking for a perfect cherry, just some of people's favorites.

Gardengal: thank you, I just looked at the tree you suggested and I LOVE it! What a stunning shape it eventually takes!!! I will be doing a lot of research on those tonight.

Should I buy a 1-2' plant? Or do you think paying the extra money for a 5-6' plant is worth it?

The common ones I see that have a chance in cold winters are Sargent and Higan. I had a beautiful, huge Higan that I just had to take down due to cold and bug damage, along with aggressive roots. There are a several decent of varieties of Sargent that are more upright and thus stand out from the overplanted "umbrella" weepers. If you are planting multiple, you definitely want something less formal looking. I would suggest going with something bigger than 1-2'. Not sure where you are, but deer seem to love cherries - the smaller it is, the longer you have to worry about protecting it.

The Sato-Zakura are garden hybrids, it's just Prunus 'Shirotae' - without the "serrulata". And in areas where cherry bark tortrix is present this one is said to be a magnet for it. But if you look at threads of eastern North American origin there is lots about bug and blight problems with Japanese cherries (and other Rose Family flowering trees) in general. So you might want to look for any recommendations there could be from your state Extension agency and other local sources.

Aggressive roots are the result of grafting Japanese cherries onto sweet cherries (P. avium) - when (and if!) buying Japanese cherries you want to look for stock that is not on sweet cherry roots. In addition to sweet cherry producing large roots that actually end up on top of the ground it can spread to form colonies - and may often be graft incompatible with Japanese cherries, resulting in failure of the scion over time. It also attempts to form its own top, which will soon supplant the Japanese cherry if not kept cut out.

This one (below) does have the advantage of being the result of a pretty intensive sounding screening program.

Five hundred open-pollinated seedlings of Malus halliana were
artificially inoculated with fire blight under control conditions. Of the
sixty surviving seedlings, several showed field resistance to scab, cedar-apple
rust, and powdery mildew when exposed to natural inoculum from heavily
infected, susceptible plants during eleven years of field trial. 'Adirondack'
was selected from this seedling population in 1974 by Donald R. Egolf and
released in 1987.

Even so a planting done quite near me got blighted this year - by what would seem to be false fire blight (Pseudomonas) and looked pretty bad when the contractor showed it to me (I am a horticultural consultant). But if you read up on it such an occurrence is thought to be associated with sloppy nursery practices such as leaving the tops of the trees laying on damp ground etc. - and not something that would necessarily happen to correctly handled trees after planting.

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Newintro/adirond1.html

Now that is a lot of information.

If you buy a smaller tree it will likely have better roots. When they transplant a large tree they typically wack off a lot of roots, or occasionally grow it in a pot that limits how big the roots can get. This means if you plant a small tree and let it grow on site it will often have better roots, making it more resistant to drought and wind. Of course, as hamburglar1 said the smaller tree is more vulnerable to deer...and weed whackers and being shaded by weeds.

It's really a question of what risks you think are greater in your situation.

Most ornamental cherries are short lived and vulnerable to disease. Black cherry isn't pretty but is tough. How much are you willing to coddle it?

I'm willing to coddle it as much as necessary. I'm super interested in the Mt. Fuji cherry. The form that it takes on is just beautiful to me. I do not know very much about it, other than it isn't easy to find for sale right now. Others suggested I wait till late winter and then search again as that is when they are more likely to be available, and it is a better time to plant them anyways. I would love to know if there are other cherries (or any type of tree) that takes on the same shape as the Mt. Fuji cherry.

Fall is a great time to plant trees. August is one of the worst times. Some places have big sales on things in the Fall...but this is mostly useful for people who are willing to buy whatever is on sale or are shopping for several common plants. Cheap bare root trees are typically only sold in the Spring. Of course, with enough coddling (and watering) you can plant things any time of year.

Actually it really depends on the exact climate conditions. Cherry blossom trees can live a long time if the climate conditions are just right: not too dry, but not too humid either, cool and moderate temperatures, but not too freezing in the winter. The foothills of the mountains in central Japan really have the most optimal climate for cherry blossom trees. There are very few other parts of the world that have climate conditions exactly like Japan.

Another thing to mention is that the cultivated varieties of ornamental cherry blossoms are not quite as hardy and resilient as the original native wild varieties (the same phenomena can be observed with other plant species such as roses).

A Yoshino growing in Japan typically has a lifespan of 30 to 50 years, whereas in America it may only be 15 to 20 years. There are some cherry blossoms hundreds of years old in Japan, but they usually require a great amount of care to maintain. Basically cherries can potentially live a long time, but are vulnerable to pests and disease, especially if the climate conditions are not optimal.

The Formosan cherry, and various hybrid varieties thereof (kanzakura, okame, youkouzakura ), tend to be more resilient in warmer climates.

Pink Cloud is another hybrid variety as well, suitable to warmer climate zones. It originated by chance from a white-petaled serrulata variety growing at Huntington Gardens, and was very likely pollinated by one of the Formosan cherries growing in the surrounding vicinity.

Unfortunately none of these warm climate hybrids really have quite the same beautiful shaped blooms of Mt Fuji.

I realize after all you guys have told me that there are definitely some potential difficulties growing Japanese cherries. However, I'm still up to try it. Are there any other varieties that have a shape similar to that of the Mt Fuji cherry? Thanks.

Kyle

Unfortunately when it comes to cherry blossom trees, there is not that much variety being sold in most regions of America. From what I have seen, the nurseries with the best selection of less common varieties tend to be in the pacific northwest or the U.K.

Even in Japan there usually does not seem to be that much variety for sale. When the population left the rural areas a century ago, they also left behind the tremendous variety of cherry blossoms that had been traditionally cultivated for centuries. Most Japanese do not have room enough to plant cherry blossom trees in their tiny yards, and the city authorities are almost entirely only planting the Yoshino variety, along with just 2 or 3 others. The old varieties still survive in botanical gardens or Buddhist temples and shrines.

It's really too bad, because there are a tremendous number of different cultivars, many of which have unique features. Unlike with roses, it's just hard for cherry blossom enthusiasts to collect multiple different varieties because each one is an entire tree!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7sdX6WXyOA

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_species.html

This is just a tiny sample of all the different cherry blossom varieties. Good luck trying to find them for sale though!

What about the Mt. Fuji Chery do you like? Unfortunately, it is easier to search online by word or phrase then by picture. And if I look at a Mt. Fuji Cherry tree in my neighborhood what I see as the distinctive feature may not be the same thing as what you are visualizing.

Oh, some helpful links:
Willis Orchard Company
Cheery Tree Forms

I really like the shape of the tree. Flat top, kind of arching down into an umbrella shape. I am big on horizontal branching trees.

Hmmm...just from playing with web searches. Do any of these look good?

Prunus 'Autumnalis', Autumn Flowering Cherry

Malus 'Echtermeyer', Weeping Pink Crabapple

Fraxinus excelsior 'Aurea Pendula' , Weeping Golden Ash

Prunus 'Shimidsu Sakura', Flowering Cherry

Although if you have your heart on Mt. Fuji, just get it. You can mail order it bare-root in the spring if nothing else

Some crabapples can be just as beautiful as cherry blossoms.

In particular there is a crabapple variety called 'Pink Cloud' whose blossoms look almost like roses (the lose-petaled type). Pink Cloud is a little unusual in that it forms double-flowered blossoms (with 5 primary petals and 5 somewhat smaller inside petals). Sorry, I cannot find any pictures, but it has the most beautiful shaped petals of any crabapple I have ever seen.

Here is a crabapple called 'Brandywine'

http://gammonlandscapenursery.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Malus-Brandywine.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/gdJq63ELQXQ/S-Hfuuc5XII/AAAAAAAAAJg/n9DM8m9lSfI/s1600/IMG0255.jpg

Here is a picture of another crabapple called 'Scarlet Brandywine'

http://plants.gardensupplyco.com/Content/Images/Photos/F311-16.jpg

http://nurseryguide.com/find_plants/malus_scbrazam

Ed: thank you for that 'tree form' link. It was very interesting, and I intend to save it for future reference. On a side note, that is actually the university I attend, and one of the people responsible for the document will be one of my professors this semester. Small world.

Parker: crabapples are beautiful. I wasn't aware there was such a variety. They will definitely be an option if I am unable to find the cherry that I want in the spring.