Thrives in a well-drained moisture-retentive loamy soil. Prefers some lime in the soil but is likely to become chlorotic if too much lime is present. Requires a sunny position. Dormant plants are hardy to about -25°c. Most members of this genus are shallow-rooted and will produce suckers if the roots are damaged. This plant is a free-growing suckering shrub. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.

Fruit - raw or cooked. The fruit is quite variable in quality, the best forms are somewhat mealy with a fairly nice flavor. The fruit is about 25mm in diameter and contains one large seed. Seed - raw or cooked. Do not eat the seed if it is too bitter - see the notes above on toxicity. Oil from the seed is used as an almond flavoring, it is inferior to the bitter almond oil obtained from P. dulcis.

Seed - requires 2 - 3 months cold stratification and is best sown in a cold frame as soon as it is ripe. Sow stored seed in a cold frame as early in the year as possible. Protect the seed from mice etc. The seed can be rather slow, sometimes taking 18 months to germinate. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Grow them on in a greenhouse or cold frame for their first winter and plant them out in late spring or early summer of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood with a heel, July/August in a frame. Softwood cuttings from strongly growing plants in spring to early summer in a frame. Layering in spring. Division of suckers during the dormant season. They can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.

Dry grassland. Grasslands, valleys, hollows and dry slopes at elevations up to 1200 metres in Tibet.