And I’d add to spray for plum curculio when they show up. But besides those two small chores, they are pretty easy here in Arlington VA, amazingly so since they were bred for a much colder zone.
I think my Carmine Jewel (2 plants) and Juliet (1 plant) bushes are approaching 10 years old and I get more fruit than I need from just the two Carmine Jewel bushes. We probably make a half a dozen pies each year, sometimes some jam, cook some up in a sauce pan with a little sugar to put on ice cream and in various muffins and cakes. We pit and freeze a bunch for use throughout the year. I also let some neighbors pick, since there are plenty to share. This year the taste isn’t as intense due to all the rain, but if I can wait long enough to harvest I think it will just get better every day now that the rain is done. I did have some splitting due to the days and days of soaking rain, which was the first time ever for that issue, so doesn’t seem like a major problem.
Amazingly I don’t have a big problem with birds. I think the fact they are pretty sour when first showing color means they get sampled by birds and then the birds leave them mostly alone - sort of like astringent persimmons. This year there is a little more bird impact, but it still isn’t enough to make much of an impact on my harvest.
We mostly harvest from Carmine Jewel, but Juliet is better for fresh eating, although less productive and taller which makes spraying and picking harder. Because it is harder to spray and I only use Surround I get more PC hits on the Juliets, which is part of the reason we don’t harvest those as much. I actually think Carmine Jewel is better for cooking also, since it is a more intensely flavored fruit. Neither is what I would consider a real fresh eating cherry, although everyone in my family enjoys sampling when we walk by. They just aren’t sweet enough on their own that I would sit down and eat a big bowl.
They do sucker, but I just pot them up and give them away. I’ve even sold enough on FB marketplace one year to make my money back on the original purchase 2X or more.
Here are the Carmine Jewels by my driveway as of today. We’ve done one little harvest, but will do a much bigger harvest this weekend.
If I ever move, these would be one of the first things I’d make sure to plant in my yard. Besides being reliable, productive and fairly easy to grow and maintain, the fruit isn’t readily available in stores and is very pricey at farmers markets. At farmer’s market prices, my bushes are easily producing $200+ of fruit every year.
