Traditionally there have been two well-known bush cherries; the Nanking cherry (Prunus tomentosa) and Hansen’s bush cherry (Prunus besseyi). We now have a new addition which I will call Canadian Dwarf Sour Cherries. The cherries have a long and complicated history going back to 1944 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The work was eventually taken over by the University of Saskatchewan resulting in the release of a number of cultivars. See https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/carringtonrec/northern-hardy-fruit-evaluation-project/fruit-index/dwarf-sour-cherry for more information on the history of these fruit.
So, what makes these cherries special? They are dwarf (6 to 7 feet tall), very hardy and provide large yields of high quality fruit. They are also sweeter having a Brix rating of 16 to 22% as compared to 11 to 16% for ‘Montmorency’; our tart cherry tree standard.
There are four varieties that I have found available for sale in the U.S. They are Romeo, Juliet, Carmine Jewel and Crimson Passion. All of these can be found at honeyberryuse.com. All but Crimson Passion are available from Hirt’s Gardens (hirts.com) and Gurney’s (gurneys.com). Carmine Jewel can be purchased from Raintree Nursery (https://raintreenursery.com/), Stark Brothers (starkbros.com) and Michigan Bulb Company (michiganbulb.com). (Ward Upham)
So, what makes these cherries special? They are dwarf (6 to 7 feet tall), very hardy and provide large yields of high quality fruit. They are also sweeter having a Brix rating of 16 to 22% as compared to 11 to 16% for ‘Montmorency’; our tart cherry tree standard.
There are four varieties that I have found available for sale in the U.S. They are Romeo, Juliet, Carmine Jewel and Crimson Passion. All of these can be found at honeyberryuse.com. All but Crimson Passion are available from Hirt’s Gardens (hirts.com) and Gurney’s (gurneys.com). Carmine Jewel can be purchased from Raintree Nursery (https://raintreenursery.com/), Stark Brothers (starkbros.com) and Michigan Bulb Company (michiganbulb.com). (Ward Upham)
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