I’ve read that the old variety Gold is pure yellow when ripe with no blush. It is also supposed to be very cold-hardy, productive, late-ripening and a good pollenizer.
Here Montmorency is beginning to be ripe, I also had my first taste of Carmine Jewels (though they’re still red) and was pleasantly surprised. I like them more than Monte and could eat them out of hand pretty easily at this point, but will save them mostly until the darken and become fully ripe. I’ll also get to taste a couple Blackgolds in a week or two if the birds don’t get them.
I believe it originated in Nebraska, and is said to have survived -38F in River Falls, WI (according to Bob Purvis) so its quite the unusual variety. It is also one of the parents of Blackgold cherry and presumably where that variety gets its hardiness.
I should graft a branch of it sometime just to try it out.
Correct. Blackgold is also reported to have survived -33F in SW MN if you’re looking for the hardies! Whitegold has been reported to be approximately as hardy as Blackgold (though Gold is not one of its parents).
Picked my Lapins 2 days ago. Most tested at 20 or 21 brix. Not quite as crunchy as a Bing but still a nice texture. The tree is four years old but suffered from winter dieback the first year.
They were netted, I just took the picture after I removed the net and before I picked them. I built a really flimsy frame out of furring strips. It kept the net off of half the tree but the branches on the other side got smooshed a bit. It doesn’t take long for the branches to start to deform when that happens, I’ll have to come up with a better plan next time.
I’ve got a bunch of mahaleb cherries I need to graft one of these days. Hoping someone can help me pick a few good ones out from this list https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/search.aspx. They have many prunus avium I’m not familiar with. Looks like they have some Prunus Cerasus and Fruticosa as well.
Yeah. USDA Davis has Black Eagle and a spur strain of Van… if only they would relinquish them to requestors. I’ve asked a number of times over the years. Crickets.
I get frustrated that these programs are not better funded and staffed. Such a wonderful program I think should merit more public support. Avoiding politics, I will leave it at that.
With your website-- you’ve voluntarily worked to partially fill a void. The army of participants you’ve pied pipered onto this forum have altogether access to an array of germplasm rivaling Uncle Sam’s.
Clark, do not order sour cherries from them. They all introduce Monilinia laxa in your orchard and Carmine Jewel seems to be very sensitive to Monilinia. You will loose much more then you get.
I don’t think sour cherries are going to add any more brown rot than you already have. The disease is already introduced, its pretty much everywhere. It takes a few years to build up to really bad levels though.
I was more looking for a tree, but might ask Scott too, down the road. OK well Van was a choice too. I could have sworn I seen Black Eagle at one time somewhere? It probably was Black Republican that I saw.
Scott it is not Monilinia fructicola (Brown rot), it is Monilinia laxa. It is more aggressive and it practically acts as Fireblight on apples. It is transmitted through flowers and then clogs the buds and causes them to die, enters into the wood and causes cankers. It also blights the young shoots and they die and look like sheperd hooks. It is very hard to treat. Some varieties are very susceptible and they will die completely, the others will survive, but they will decrease the production of cherries if any. Monilinia laxa is very famous in Europe but it seems to be mostly unknown in US. I got it through USDA scions, and I had it this year, and I am not sure what will happen with my sour cherries next year. I planted bush cherries and they seem to be very susceptible to it. Sweet cherries are quite resistant. I am not sure if they can transmit the Monilinia laxa or not.
That, and European pear rust, something new I’ve learned. Seems like it’s creeping up in the US from the west coast. Last I checked there is no spray for E. pear rust yet. Hope it never comes east.