The best cherry varieties?

Anyone have any experience and opinions on what is the best cherry tree to grow?

If you want a cherry to eat out-of-hand, you want a sweet cherry.  For pies and preserving, the sour cherries are favored, as they retain flavor after cooking.

Here in the NW, the Rainier cherry is the most popular sweet cherry.  It does well in the zone 6 east side of the Cascades.  It would probably be a novelty in PA.

yes you are correct, we buy them sometimes and my wife loves them, but they are hard to find. Thanks for the feedback.

Rainier cherries being "hard to find" tells me two things: they are probably grown, in limited numbers, in your region, AND there is a market for them locally.  Besides making your wife happy, you could also have a nice cash crop.  Win/Win situation.

Well the cherries themselves we can buy locally, but the finding someone who sells the trees is another issue. I find its cheaper overall just to get them from a local nursery.

This is my second year in a row with NO crop, zilch, nada.  Last year, they froze.  This year, it was the nonstop rain that rotted the blooms and tiny fruit.

Michigan is the # 1 state in tart cherries, and in the top 5 or 6 for sweet, but they are hard to grow.

I'm seriously considering planting more goumi -- flavor is very similar to a tart cherry, without any of the growing issues.  Being a member of the Russian Olive tribe, they're close to indestructible.

What varieties do you have?

I've been very happy with my 2 sour cherries, out of hand- which wasn't expected. Heavy crops on a young tree, self pollinating... and not what I'd actually call sour.

check hardiness zone and self fruitfulness..most cherries need another for fruiting and a lot of them are not hardy to fruit in MY area zone 4/5

We always make sure that we find the most hardy species when we plant

Brenda Groth wrote:
check hardiness zone and self fruitfulness..most cherries need another for fruiting and a lot of them are not hardy to fruit in MY area zone 4/5

We always make sure that we find the most hardy species when we plant

which varaties do you grow?


@ Brenda...do you have cherry trees?

Anyone growing stella cherries or have any first hand knowledge of them? Im told that they are one of the best overall.

Anyone know what type cherry is "Black Cherry," used in Turkey Hill Black Cherry Ice Cream, also formerly Breyers and others as well?

Daniel Wheeler wrote:Anyone know what type cherry is "Black Cherry," used in Turkey Hill Black Cherry Ice Cream, also formerly Breyers and others as well?

Hi, Daniel.
Welcome to permies.

I don't know the answer, but if nobody answers you in a couple of days, let me know so we can help.

I doubt it can easily be found, but my favorite has been Black Republican.  Of course the name is part of the fun, but it's also good eating.  In some recent years I've seen them at the farmers market in Seattle, so they're still around.  A little smaller and maybe softer than a Bing.  Would undoubtedly be a great choice for black cherry ice cream.

Sour cherries are what I'd probably plant, though, if it were cold enough to suit cherries here.