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stan_

Sour Cherry in Northern California

stan_
9 years ago

Hi,

I am a huge fan of fresh sour cherries. However, standard "pie cherry" varieties grown in the US (such as Montmorency, English Morello, North Star, etc.) are too sour for my taste (for eating fresh from the tree). I grew up in Ukraine where we had fabulous sour cherries ("vishnya" in Russian): large juicy fruits with very dark purple (almost black) skin and flesh and an incredible taste that was both tart and very sweet at the same time. We also had great sweet cherries ("chereshnya" in Russian), but sour cherries were special due to that exceptional combination of sweetness, tartness, and juiciness. When I was a boy, I could sit down with a book and a half-gallon bucket of these sour cherries and finish them in an hour.

Now I have a decent-size garden in a semi-rural area near Tracy, and I want to grow my own sour cherries (among many other fruits). However, as I said, I like my tart cherries fresh from the tree and therefore I don't want to spend garden space, time, and effort on standard ("pie cherry") varieties mentioned above. I consider mostly two types of sour cherries (described below) and would very much appreciate advice, comments, and opinions from anyone who has experience with growing any of these varieties in California. I'm in USDA zone 9 (border of Sunset zones 9 and 14), with typically 800-900 chill hours per winter.

The first type are Hungarian sour cherry cultivars Danube, Jubileum, and Balaton (adapted for the US in Michigan State University). According to descriptions, they are sufficiently sweet to be eaten fresh (although their fruits seem lighter in color and thus probably somewhat tarter than those of Ukrainian varieties). I would like to know how well these cultivars grow and fruit in the California climate and also how do you like their taste.

The second type are dwarf sour cherry cultivars Carmine Jewel, Crimson Passion, Romeo, Juliet, and Cupid (Prunus cerasus x P. fruticosa hybrids bred in Univ. of Saskatchewan, see http://www.fruit.usask.ca/dwarfsourcherries.html). According to descriptions and pictures, these sour cherries are very similar to what I expect, with dark fruit color and high sugar content. However, they have been bred to be very hardy (up to Zone 2) and are recommended for Zones 2-8. Therefore, I wonder whether they will fruit well (or at all) in a hotter climate of Zone 9. I know that some sweet cherry cultivars recommended for Zones 5-7 (like Black Tartarian or Royal Ann) nevertheless fruit reasonably well in my area, so I would like to believe that these dwarf sour cherries will produce fruit in Zone 9. I will be grateful to anybody who can share their experiences with growing these varieties. Also, I noted that some of the few nurseries that sell these trees in the US do not ship them to California (it appears like they initially did sell these cultivars to California in late 2000s but then stopped circa 2011). Is there any ban that exists in California for bringing in these sour cherry trees?

Thank you very much in advance.
Stan

Comments (20)

  • stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    He's not me!

  • stan_
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    MadManMark, Thank you for your comment. I'm going to try no matter what, so we will know answers to my questions in a few years. As an update to some of my questions, Honeyberry USA confirmed to me that they do ship to California, and I'm going to order the UofS varieties from them this coming Fall.

  • MadManMark (5a)
    8 years ago

    stan_, I am looking at doing the same, probably two plants, CP and Juliet. I'm new to planting fruit trees though, and am trying to decide if I should plant in fall or next spring, and whether the answer to that is dependent on the fact I live in zone 5a

  • stan_
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    I already have an area allocated and soil amended for 11 sour cherry trees: 9 UofS varieties of bushes/small trees and 2 Hungarian trees. I want to try all UofS cultivars that Honeyberry USA sell (plus Lutowka).

    In zone 5a, I would most probably plant in spring. In my area, summers are very hot and dry, and young plants have a difficult time surviving if planted in spring. On the other hand, our winters are mild and wet, so planting in fall makes much more sense.


  • MadManMark (5a)
    8 years ago

    Yeah, after posting this I checked some guides on my local university extension site, and decided spring was way to go too, for me.

  • Ollamov Yuldashevich
    6 years ago

    Привет Стэн, ну как у тебя там получилось с вишнями? И еще один вопрос, где можно достать шпанку? Это типа гибрида черешни и вишни, некоторые даже покрупнее черешни будут, но кисловатые.

  • parker25mv
    6 years ago

    Maybe you should research the variety 'May Duke'.

  • vgoretsky67
    6 years ago

    Stan_ Could you please share the result of your search for Ukrainian type of sour cherry. I used to have them over there and want to plant in East Bay. Dreaming about vareniki c vishnej

  • stan_
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    I'm not using this forum anymore. Please google for Growing Fruit Forum, it's the best place for people who are interested in fruit growing.

  • stanofh 10a Hayward,Ca S.F. bay area
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    You mean on Garden Web? Because the only other is IFG and they suck. Mean people..who have something more on the agenda then friendly talk. Its like drunks in a bar taking something way too serious as well as giving no better advice.

  • viper75
    6 years ago

    Ahhhhh. My father always talks about the great sour cherries he had in his home town in Norther Hungary (now Slovakia) He has looked for many years, but could not find the types he recalls. And they grew wild in many cases as do the mulberry trees where to day they complain about the stains on the patios, but back then, it's what enabled them to survive Russian occupation and WWII in many ways. I am in Livermore and have not come across any sour cherries that I like nor has my father. But I will keep a look out.

  • Parker Turtle
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Of the tart cherries, the variety I am aware of with the lowest chill requirement comes from Iran; it is called Albaloo. It would be very happy in zone 9. (Supposedly good flavor but not the most edible flesh surrounding the pit) It is also possible to hybridize sweet cherry with tart cherry; the resulting mixed offspring will eventually develop fruit but the seeds inside that fruit will be sterile. (So what if you hybridized a low chill sweet cherry with Carmine Jewel?)

    You might also be interested in the cherry variety 'May Duke', if you can find it (the original one).

  • Stephanie, 9b inland SoCal
    6 years ago
    Spring Hill Nursery has a Prunus fruticosa x Prunus cerasus cross that might be similar in taste. At least they describe it as being both sweet and tart.
    https://www.springhillnursery.com/product/jewel-carmine-dwarf-cherry
  • vgoretsky67
    6 years ago

    I just bought English Morello sour cherry tree from Trees of Antiquity.

  • HU-2576824832750925471144
    5 years ago

    As I know the best sour cherry are on the Ukraine and Canada. In the Canada a huge Ukrainian community and sour cherry orchard is a dream of Ukrainian majority . Take a look the best sour cherry in Canada.

  • vgoretsky67
    5 years ago

    In California we have very low number of chill hours that prevents use of Canadian cherry. I planted English Morello this Spring with hope it will be a good match. Thank you.

  • HU-929921454
    3 years ago

    vgoretsky67 - How did it go?

  • MadManMark (5a)
    3 years ago

    Not vgor, but an update on mine (Romeo & Juliet varieties, planted five years ago in zone 5a): it's been very slow going so far, planted bare seedling I got in the mail from MN, after half a decade they are maybe 3' tall bushes still, haven't really seen any fruiting yet. In fact it took I think 3 years before I even saw significantl flowering.


    But they're also planted in a semi-shaded area (surrounded on 3 sides by other, taller bushes); they get direct sunlight only a handful of hours each day, at best.

  • vgore
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    For two years after planting the tree was growing and harvesting very well.

    Suddenly the graft has died last summer, while root stock was in perfect condition.

    Wont be planting English Morello again.