UNDERSTANDING TYPES OF CHERRY TREES

It’s extremely important to understand what type of tree you are looking at when you start shopping for a cherry tree. Do your research, and don’t buy based off of a rosy advertisement!

There are three basic types of cherries commonly advertised:

BUSH CHERRIES:

There are distinct differences across types of bush cherries, and the taste and other characteristics of the fruit will vary widely across these groups. 

The Nanking Bush Cherry: The Nanking is one of the more commonly advertised and lower-cost varieties of bush cherries available on the market. This is an Asian shrub, and is a species, not a hybrid. 

Hybrid Bush Cherries: Some of the most commonly advertised varieties I have seen are the “Romance” series; the Carmine Jewel, the Romeo, the Juliet, and others. I’ll admit it, the fabulous advertisement for the Carmine Jewel drew me in and I did end up purchasing one of these.

PIE CHERRIES:

Don’t be fooled by the name. “Pie cherries” are also called tart cherries or sour cherries.

Although they do make awesome pies, pie cherries are NOT the lovely, sweet and tasty cherries you pick up in the produce section of the supermarket for garnishing a sundae or adding to a fruit salad.

A sour cherry is sour. End of story.

SWEET CHERRIES:

Sweet cherries are the classic fresh-eating cherries. Sweet, flavorful, and large, they come in multiple colors from white to red to deep purpley-black.

Note: “Chokecherries” are a totally different ballgame. Some people call aronia a chokecherry, while others insist that chokecherries are inedible, and aronia is a chokeBERRY. All of these different species share the same genus (“prunus”), so are easily confused…

…However, just because a tree is within the prunus group doesn’t mean it is a cherry. Even almonds fall within this genus. Know what you’re buying before you plunk down your money!

SWEET CHERRIES MOST LIKELY TO SURVIVE IN ZONE 4

If you are looking for the classic cherry tree you can harvest and eat straight off the tree, there aren’t many options once you move north beyond zone 5.

However, there are a few varieties that are 1) rated to zone 4 and colder by a reputable nursery, or 2) recommended for colder climates without a specific guarantee of what zones are considered “colder climates.”

This list summarizes some of the sweet cherry trees that are guaranteed to survive in zone 4, or are commonly suggested as most likely to survive. 

Kristen Sweet Cherry Tree (Nursery-Guaranteed):

The Kristen is the first sweet cherry I ever saw advertised as cold-tolerant to my zone.

However, advertisements and reality don’t always mix, and I had some questions about whether the Kristen Sweet Cherry was viable in zone 4, but so far so good!

The downside to this tree is that you need a pollinator; you have to keep looking for a second variety to add as a pollination partner to your Kristen cherry tree, or you won’t get fruit.

I do have a Kristen Sweet Cherry, and it has survived several zone 4 winters (although admittedly, they were pretty mild winters recently). No fruit to date, as the tree is still pretty young, but I’m hopeful!

Chelan Sweet Cherry Tree (Nursery-Guaranteed):

The Chelan is a relatively new variety. There are different reports on the Chelan Cherry Tree’s cold-tolerance, but I’ve seen it advertised by multiple nurseries as hardy to zone 3.

That’s wildly beyond the cold-hardiness of any other sweet cherry tree I’ve ever seen!

I personally have never grown the Chelan cherry tree, so I can’t make any comments from personal experience. I’d love to try one someday, but availability seems to be pretty unpredictable.

WhiteGold Sweet Cherry Tree (Commonly recommended):

The Whitegold is recommended by multiple nurseries and extension offices as one of the more cold-hardy cherry varieties on the market. There are a huge list of sources so I won’t name them all, but a quick sample includes this article from Michigan State University on cherry varieties for the eastern US).

Bonus points: the WhiteGold is self-pollinating.

I do have one of these trees in the ground, but it’s too early to vouch for its long-term survival ability in zone 4. (Short-term, sure; long-term… still deciding).

BlackGold Sweet Cherry Tree (Commonly recommended):

I’ve seen the BlackGold advertised by different nurseries as exceptionally cold-hardy. (Again, there’s a lot of sources out there, but just a single quick link to PennState Extension’s stone fruit varieties page which notes the BlackGold’s spring frost tolerance).

Bonus points: the BlackGold is self-pollinating.

I do have a BlackGold sweet cherry tree, but full disclosure – I haven’t had mine long enough to be confident of its long-term winter hardiness. So far, the cold weather it has survived has been pretty mild in comparison to my area’s usual winters.

Due to lack of personal experience, I’ll say the jury is out on this one, but I’m tentatively hopeful. We’ll see how things go.

Benton Sweet Cherry Tree (My “bonus” pick):

OK, I haven’t seen a lot of research on the Benton sweet cherry’s cold hardiness… but allow me one biased pick.

The Benton is the first sweet cherry I ever bought that survived my winters. Almost every nursery I have seen it advertised as a zone 5 tree, but I bought it on a whim when I saw it advertised for zone 4. (The listing was taken down shortly after I bought it, and the nursery is now out of business. Go figure).

Despite this sketchy beginning, the Benton cherry tree has done just fine in my zone 4 winters, so I’m including it on the list… just because I can.

SWEET CHERRIES NOT LIKELY TO SURVIVE IN ZONE 4

Which varieties are definitely NOT suited to cold climates? That’s a more complicated question. Partially, cold hardiness depends on the rootstock the cultivars are grafted on, as well as your microclimate and any coddling from the gardener (my favorite hack? Tree tubes!).

However, as a baseline FYI, be aware that Cornell University Extension reports that both Bing and Stella have sensitivity to colder climates. (Summit and Schmidt are also noted in their write-up as cold-tender, but I don’t see that one commonly advertised, so you probably won’t run into it as often.)

Note: The report is from 1989, so I wouldn’t rule out some improvements made through better breeding and rootstock experimentation, but in general, these reports are pretty stable. 

Moving a little further west, Michigan State University cautions that there is a lack of cold-hardiness in the sweet cherry cultivar Rainier. 

This doesn’t mean that these varieties can’t be nurtured through a tough winter… but as a gardener, I am not planning on spending my money on any of these cold-tender types (at least, not in the near future).

True, I might be pleasantly surprised – but keeping a sweet cherry tree alive in zone 4 is difficult enough, so I’d rather purchase a sweet cherry tree with the proven hardiness to survive zone 4 winters. Maybe I’ll still kill it, but at least I have a fighting chance of survival.