I am having some rainier cherries and Utah Giant cherries come into zone 5 Colorado in late December or January. I am wondering if they will both cross pollinate since they are mid season. I bought Utah Giant because I hear they are more tasty than Bing. I know rainier is hardy to zone 5 but does anyone know if Utah Giant is hardy to zone 5? Some say it is hardy to zone 6 and others say zone 5.
Per Dave Wilson nursery, it looks like they are compatible.
https://www.davewilson.com/product-information/product/utah-giant-cherry
I have a Utah Giant grafted on my Black Gold. It has done fine but this past winter was not that cold in my zone 6.
Another important factor you need to keep in mind is how stable is you early spring. If your area has temperature fluctuation or often has late freeze, it could wipe out your cherry crop, after your tree survive the winter.
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We have freezes into May. Do you think I need a late blooming variety because I get snows until May?
I was interested in the answer to your question and I see it hasn’t been answered, but I will tell you that where we are, we also have snow/spring frost in May.
We put an Utah giant cherry in the ground at the beginning of the season and we actually got a few cherries this year which blew my mind. They were smaller than I think they should be, but they actually had a very promising flavor. I’m expecting great things from this tree.
I am also interested in rainier cherries and it would be nice to know if they would cross pollinate did you end up getting both of these trees?
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Utah Giant is the only pollen allele I haven’t found