what are some good ones for NC? i'm thinking they will be of less of mess. i heard Stella is good.. others seems to require sweet cherry trees for pollination.

I have a Bing Cherry, its only requires one tree and bees. One word of warning. It grows big and the birds love the cherries.

Pete, I had a Stella once.  The birds are a CONSTANT problem!  I love cherries but so does other critters.  I decided to get a couple of Cornelian Cherry Dogwood trees.  I don't know how fast the grow but I bought them for the yellow flowers and of course the fruit.  To me, CC dogwoods are rare trees.  We allready have a large Japanese Maple tree with greeping jenny growing underneath it.  It sure is pretty off from a distance!  It's very attractive and neighbors comment all the time.  Now, I'm trying to create the same affect using a red creeper and these dogwoods.  Plus I get to eat my yard!

Sweet cherries in NC are neither easier nor more reliable than figs. Their only advantage is being more winter hardy.

If you still want to try I'd recommend White Gold, Black Gold, or any of the Pearl series bred in NY. All are for sale at Adam's County Nursery. Both Gold cherries are self fertile.

Bing and most other western cherries split too much in rain. They all split if it rains near harvest but those listed less so.

It took me 40 yrs to get a greenhouse setup where I can reliably grow sweet cherries. So after growing all the cherries I can eat the last few years, I'm tending down on them and up on figs. The cherries run 25-34+ brix but are mostly just sugar and not enough flavor. Strawberry Verte figs are as sweet and better flavor.

Sour cherries do better here in eastern Canada, they also make better cherry pies or any type of cherry baked goods.  

I got pie cherries pete. They are sweet and tart at the same time. Great for pies coblers jelly and jam. The kids like eating them right off the tree. I have to do some pruning come winter. If you want I could send cuttings. Never tried to root them myself, but have read online it can be done.

would japanese cherry blosson interfere with fruiting cherry? i just planted 5 of japanese cherry blosom this yr..

thanks dave, but i think i'm just going to buy a tree. i'm finding my super human feeling from rooting figs is making me rather depressed when it comes to other trees..lol

I am in Sacramento, CA. I have a Compact Stella. First year it had a few cherries, second year had a few cherries but it was not in full sun. It is in a large container and this week it has much more sun, not full sun but almost. For certain it was hot enough here. Although the weird winters have been more like fall in the last two years. That might have effected it. Mine is about 6 feet in the leader branch and maybe ten feet total. I have cats and there are tons of ferral cats so I do not think birds are a problem for me.

I love the tree but I am hoping the  young fig trees will make up for the lack of cherries. That said, I have seven varieties of Blackberry from thorny to  erect thornless. I have blackberries from May to July. The Ouchita grow like trees. The stalks are larger than a large man's thumb in diameter. The berries are large and juicy in full sun. The ones in the partial shade do not get that many berries even though they do grow nearly the same height. There are typically about four canes per plant after a year or two.

Steve,

DO you know of where to access scion and root stocks? 

Raintree has Colt and Krymsk root stock. I thought I saw Gisela but maybe that was in their Cherry trees. They cost about $3.50 plus s&h. I think that Krymsk has a patent fee to add to that. You can probably find local people who have trees and might give you a cutting. Here in California, the California Rare Fruit Growers have a Scion Exchange day per year in several cities. I am trading some seedlings with other local people through Meetup.com for growers in my area. You can go there and search for local people who are into whatever you are seeking. 

Funny.. I was just thinking earlier tonight, while munching on a bag of cherries, that I should try to root a cherry tree.

Which ones would be good for growing in Dallas? Would that Lapin's do okay?

Sweet Cherries are tough in the southeast. sour/pie cherries are much easier lower care here.  I happen to like tart fruit so I love them. I have not had good luck with sweet cherries. Growing Montmorency and North Star that are doing okay. Lost my Balaton I just put in this spring, just never took off.  I have a couple Carmine Jewel as well that have not produced for me yet. If I try sweets again I think I would try the White Gold.

Lapins is a pretty good self fertile cherry. It should get enough chilling in Dallas. I'd get it on Gisela 5 rootstock. Mine on Krymsk 5 all died of bacterial canker. Cherry isn't something to root a cutting, ie, self rooted. Even if you could root it, questionable, the tree would be too big and take years longer to fruit.

That said there is no place in TX that is good sweet cherry country. In Amarillo I made a crop about 6 years in 12 growing Stella. The fruit was mediocre at best. Now in Alpine in SW Texas I spent 6 years and nearly a $1,000 before cutting down 24 trees outdoors. All the trees on Krymsk 5 died and even the shelter I built didn't get them through the freezes.

It took 8 years to learn how to grow them in my greenhouse. They are the easiest fruit to sweeten up but the hardest to grow. I prefer figs, Strawberry Verte, apricot, and nectarine over sweet cherry.

If birds are a problem, consider a white cherry tree. There is a large one up the street from me and every year it is loaded with delicious white cherries that the birds ignore for some reason. I bought a grafted 3-in-1 myself, but it's only a few years old and hasn't fruited yet.

Sorry to potentially hijack this thread.

I have a Stella and a 4-1 cherry (Dave Wilson Nursery).  Unfortunately, the deer got to all of the 4-1 grafts.  The rootstock is still very much alive, but I need to completely regraft it.

If there are Norhterners in the forum growing sweet cherries, I would love to get some wood to regraft this Spring.  I would rather graft with cherries that do well here rather than in, for example, drier climates.

Send me a message and we can figure out postage and other details.

Thanks.

Andrew

Gardencrochet, Cherry Tree - 2015

        

you could try a NorthStar  it's a sour pie type cherry  self fruitful  . has red flesh and juice . it is a smaller tree . keep pruned small . cover with bird  netting  tell the cherries are really ripe sweet and tart .  good for wine  or pies