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I think this topic may have been talked about before, but I was putting a order in with Gurney's tonight to get a Carmine Jewel Cherry tree and the guy kind of scared me off from purchasing it. I know it is a sour cherry tree, but according to the magazine the flavor beats the taste of sweet cherry trees. Not sure how this is possible. I know it originated in Canada and is a hardy tree, but I am wondering if anyone has grown or tasted this tree? I ended up ordering something else and not sure if I made the right choice. I have wanted to try a cherry tree, but I dont want one that tastes bad. I know it takes a long time to get cherries and I dont want to waste my time if it is not good. Also alot of the chokecherry trees in my area have the black knot disease. Is this something that will hurt this type of cherry tree?? I am looking for any info on this tree and would appreciate any help, I have gotten good help here before!!
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by valleyrimgirl 2b (My Page) on Thu, Dec 13, 07 at 9:49
| I planted one this fall, so I am also interested in hearing what others know about it. I also have wild chokecherry trees that are prone to getting black knot in the bush around our acreage. With the sale price at the local nursery and the gift certificate my kids gave me for mother's day, 3 different cherry trees cost me just over $10. I couldn't pass that up. It just took me a while to figure out where to plant them. I ended up putting each of them in the center of a flowerbed. Brenda |
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| I don't have the tree in question but if it's like the other hardy prairie sour cherries, yes the cherries are sour but they do sweeten up quite a bit if allowed to ripen on the tree for a while. I read somewhere that sour cherries are used in liquors, pies, preserves as they have better flavor than sweet cherries. I have a cherry tree called 'Rose' cherry, actually it's more like a large shrub. It's shown good hardiness and the one winter it did winterkill, it rebounded back pretty quick. It bloomed after about 4 years, and that was starting from a 5 inch high cutting. I know this information doesn't really pertain to the Carmine Jewel type but I thought I would offer my two cents as perhaps all the prairie sour cherries share similar characteristics. Not sure about the black knot thing though. Glen |
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| Your missing out if you don't give these a try. I worked at the U of Saskatchewan here in Saskatoon and every now and then the Horticulture people let us pick fruit to take home. It was a real treat to walk through the cherry planting and eat them fresh off the bush. Slightly tart but very tasty and we have made our own pie but find them a little too strong to use in jam or jelly. We were using a mixed lot so not just Carmine Jewel. The Carmine Jewel is especially good for a high antioxidant (dark red) content for juice. There are folks here from Saskatoon who are using it in making ice cream. The whole group from the U of S are pretty tasty but you would need to find the one that suits your growing conditions well. Check out the information on the DNA site below. Or read about them on the University of Saskatchewan web site. http://www.usask.ca/agriculture/plantsci/dom_fruit/
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Here is a link that might be useful: DNA Gardens
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- Posted by shootingstar2 zone 3/4 (My Page) on Mon, Dec 17, 07 at 11:00
| cmmwiebe Thanks for the link, some very interesting info on their site. But, I could find no info on how to order. Do they sell & ship to the public?? There was a link for Prices but it did not work. cathy |
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3 (My Page) on Tue, Dec 18, 07 at 2:26
| You can Email them, go to Catalogue, scroll down all the way. Konrad |
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| I have a Carmen Jewel in my back yard and love it. I'm training it to be a tree and it is now a little over 7 ft. tall. The cherries seem to get sweeter each year especially if you leave them on to get super ripe. My neighbours are jam makers and fight over the berries. My one pruned "bush"/tree gives more than 3 ice cream buckets each year - great jelly and syrup / although the maintenance man at the condo prefers to eat them off the tree as fruit. Fern |
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| Carmine Jewel is a particularly good choice for regions experiencing very cold winters, but should not be restricted to those. CJ, introduced around 1998, is one of a group of six 'SK' (University of Saskatchewan) cherries (the rest introduced in 2006). These are ultra-hardy, to climate zone 2, and produce high-quality fruit. As they become better known, they will surely be in great demand. Strictly speaking, because their parents, used in the decades-long breeding program, were all 'sour' cherries (better known as 'tart' cherries in the USA) the SK's, including Carmine Jewel, are called 'sour/tart' cherries; but this is misleading with regard to the experience you will have in eating them, raw or processed. They are delicious. The standard pie cherry for a very long time has been the Montmorency, a 'sour/tart' cherry with a brix number of 12 (brix number is % sugar). Carmine Jewel has a brix of 17. Other SK cherries are even sweeter, with Juliet at 20 brix and Romeo at 22 brix, for example; the latter two, as well as the Crimson Passion and the Cupid all have sugar contents comparable to Bing 'sweet' cherries, and to harvest grapes. But 'sour/tart' cherries have much, much more cherry flavour than 'sweet' cherries and their citric acid component makes them even more interesting/desirable to consume. Some find them excellent right off the tree, but they also make superb pies, jams, juices, and wines. 'SK' cherry trees are highly productive dwarfs, growing to seven feet in height and four feet in width, allowing them to be spaced five feet apart from each other (although Crimson Passion is a smaller, less vigorous tree than the others). Carmine Jewel is considered to also have ornamental value and can even be planted as a hedge with closer spacing if desired. All the 'SK' cherries are self-fruitful, meaning that they do not require a second tree for cross-pollination. Truly, they are a horticultural breakthrough. Carmine Jewel is dark red in skin and flesh. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Prairie-Hardy Cherries
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- Posted by northwoodswis4 4a (My Page) on Fri, Jan 21, 11 at 15:37
| Any input on the black knot concern? I have three baby Carmen Jewel bushes, the oldest 2 years old. I haven't seen any black knot on them so far. No cherries, either. Northwoodswis4 |
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- Posted by konrad___far_north 3..just outside of E (My Page) on Wed, Aug 29, 12 at 0:37
| OK...after several years now, how is Carmen Jewel making out for you, ..would love to see some pictures. |
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- Posted by northwoodswis4 4a (My Page) on Sun, Dec 30, 12 at 22:23
| Still no cherries in 2012. We had drought, the bushes survived with a few waterings, though the foliage was yellower than the rest of the garden. I am hoping for at least a taste in 2013. Northwoodswis |
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| A article out of the U of S by Bob Bors states that "the trees show excellent resistance to black knot, but a few cases of bacterial canker have been noted." So, sounds pretty good, but it is probably possible for them to get it. If you are worried about Crimson Jewel being too sour, why not get Crimson Passion or Juliet? They are supposed to be sweeter(though still tart) |
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