My relatives in SFV & Palmdale tried growing several types but never got any. Bro. in Palmdale had all kinds of other fruits but cherries never did anything.DD has gotten blooms but never any cherries. Weird thing is they grow them in the desert as they allow people to come & pick the fruit for "so much a lb" so growers know how to do it. Maybe they have improved trees for our growing conditions. Good Luck!

Most varieties of cherries require a lot of chilling hours. Do you know how many you get?

Minnie Royal and Royal Lee are specifically bred for the low-chill market. I have not tasted any yet myself, I believe they only came out last year.

Carla in Sac

Thank you so much everyone! We've also heard that these two cherry trees are the latest low chill varieties. Initial chill hours were supposedly ~400-500 hours? But recent updates show much less than that.

Hence, we'd like to see if any members have had first hand experience in fruiting cherries within SOCAL by growing these. There are farms where consumers can go and pick cherries so cherry trees can fruit in SOCAL. Perhaps, just as Sunnyca suggested, they have improved cherry tree varieties not available to the public...

It'd be nice to be able to pick your own cherries at home though! :-)

The place where cherries did grow in So Cal was Beaumont, which got sufficient winter chill...2600-2800 ft above sea level. Used to be many orchards there. They probably just grow houses now, or did, before the housing bubble burst.

I love cherries. If we ever moved to a colder climate, that would be the first thing I'd plant.

About 2 or 3 years ago I went to this guys house. He had an advertisement on Craigs list for Orange County. He opens up his garden for people to tour it. No cost. At that time he had just planted a Lapin Cherry the year before. It gave him fruit last year I think?
He lives in Orange County, Huntington Beach I think or bordering Westminister.
He has like 100 fruit trees or something crazy like that.
IT's a must see.
Just keep an eye out on Craig's list around mid summer.
Here is his flicker account.

with a pics of the cherries and his garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pics of his cherries

Wow, amazing! He grows all of that in his own house? 100 fruit trees is a lot. :-) Thanks for the info. everyone. It really helps!

Hi,

I am in coastal Southern Califonia. My neighbor across the street has had success with those two low chill cherries, Minnie Royal and Royal Lee. We had 323 hours of chill this year and her trees look like they will have a pretty good fruit set this year. The trees were released to the public about 5 years ago, so I am sure others have opinions on them. I recently did a post about them on my blog at www.hanburyhome.wordpress.com because I am excited for her and thinking of adding some to my yard next winter.

This link has photos of the Minnie Royal and Royal Lee trees across the street and more details.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.hanburyhome.wordpress.com

Hi, Lianne25! Thank you so much for such wonderful news!!! Looking forward to growing them now! :-)

Gardenathome, Your welcome! I am also one of those folks research a new plant or tree before buying and putting something I am unfamiliar with in the ground. In addition, I almost always go shopping with my Sunset Western Garden book, so I don't make a poor impulsive decision and buy something that can't really thrive here or might be invasive.

All too often, I see plants being sold at places like Home Depot, Lowes, Target, and Walmart that need either more chilling hours than we have or more heat. I see Bing Cherries, Blenheim Apricots, Barlett Pears, Elberta Peaches, Northern Highbush Blueberries like Bluecrop, grapes like Thompson Seedless, and lots more. I feel bad for novice gardeners that don't realize the deck was stacked against them even before they spent their hard earned money.

Hi, Lianne! Couldn't concur with you more. We've eve asked some of the associates why they would carry varieties that are not known to grown well or at all locally. Good thing we do our research and ask whenever we can prior to a purchase.

Many thanks again for the encouraging info.! :-) Happy Gardening!

Last summer Tom Spellman from Dave Wilson nursery brought over a bag of Minnie Royal or Royal Lee cherries from his tree in Upland, and they were the best cherries I've ever had- dark, sweet, big, and meaty; just as good or better than Bing. I planted them both two years ago.

I've always had a Royal Ann cherry that blossomed like crazy but never set any fruit, same with our Lapins cherry. However, this year Minnie Royal blossomed with the Royal Ann, and they're both setting lots of fruit; hooray! Pollination problem solved!

We get about 200-300 chilling hours a year. I also grow 100 apple varieties, but that's a different story.

Applenut

Hi, Applenut! That sounds fabulous. So Yummy ! We are getting more excited over our purchase of the Minnie Royal and Royal Lee cherry trees now. Does fruiting occur the 2nd year? Our trees are growing new leaves rather slowly. Wondering if the growth cycle is slower than other fruit trees. :-)

Now, I'd like to get a Royal Ann too, LOL ! Since the Minnie Royal can pollenize both. :-)

I live in South Orange County and exprience a little more chill accumulation than North County. I planted a Royal Lee and a Mini Lee a little over a year ago and this May had a few dozen cherries ripen on the
Royal Lee. They were good, but I only got a few cuz my kids ate the rest once they discovered them. This summer the trees grew a little bigger so I'm looking forward to getting a few more next year. PS. I watered the trees when the fruit was on the tree and some of the fruit split, so spare the water in April and May. Also, it's kind of a hastle to post? Maybe the reason no one has not posted in over a year, just a guess?

Not sure what you mean by a hassle to post? Nothing has changed with posting a message to the GW since I've been a member, except a few nice added features, like being able to post a photo from your hard drive (just wish we could post multiple photos, so for that you have to still use Photobucket and copy and paste in the html code). And, another nice feature is you can opt to follow ANY message thread now, not just the ones you create. As far as posting though, it's always been this way. And you can water your cherries, just make sure you evenly water them. All my stone fruit are on a drip system and get regular watering amounts. As weather warms, I do not adjust my watering practices until after I've harvested the crop, to keep the fruit sweet. A little water starvation will keep fruit sweeter and less watery. Once everything has been harvested, I turn up the water, fertilize and watch for any additional pest issues. Your Minnie Royal and Royal Lee will continue to increase their production for you as the years progress. This was my second year in the ground and I just had a handful of cherries, too. Hope for much more next season. They were excellent.

Patty S.

OK anyone seen this one? I have an ultra dwarf bing cherry tree, I got from home depot in late spring, that is begining to bloom, and already has a cluster of cherries set. I didnt know that could happen. Its still in a pot and has lots of buds that look like they are swelling. I'm thinking I should move it into the shade in a cooler spot to let it go dormant. Any suggestions?

Check out the Dave Wilson website. He lists chill hours for everything. I've heard Tom Spellman speak a few times and he is very informative.

Yes, according to dave wilson, bing cherry needs 700 chill hours, and thats why I thought it was odd that there is fruit setting in November. Maybe the stress of the transplant to a larger pot and an indian summer had something to do with it? Anyways, I moved the tree into the shade in hopes it will stop blooming now, and wait until spring.

Bing cherry ripening in Orange County CA, about two dozen for the first year.