Traditionally there have been two relatively 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 sweet 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 http://honeyberryusa.com/. All but Crimson Passion are available from Gurney’s (https://www.gurneys.com/category/cherry-trees) Carmine Jewel can be purchased from Raintree Nursery (https://raintreenursery.com/collections/cherry-trees). (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 sweet 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 http://honeyberryusa.com/. All but Crimson Passion are available from Gurney’s (https://www.gurneys.com/category/cherry-trees) Carmine Jewel can be purchased from Raintree Nursery (https://raintreenursery.com/collections/cherry-trees). (Ward Upham)
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