Thanks for the quick reply. I will keep looking for answers. I am glad you don’t have the same problem.
I just wanted to update everyone. A healthy May Duke specimen is present in the UK and the owner agreed to donate scion to the US ARS. They agreed to import it, certify it virus free, and then add it to the tart cherry collection in Geneva, New York.
That would not have happened if not for the discussion on this forum and the sharing of our interests. I think it will probably take several years before any of us can grow it, let alone taste it. But this cultivar was at risk of being lost and now will be saved. Just wanted to let everyone know. It will probably be at Monticello again in healthy form one day.
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Thank you for taking the time and effort to bring the May Duke back to the United States. I think the Duke cherries have a lot to offer growers that want sweeter cherries in challenging climates.
How hard was it to get the US ARS to agree to start the process of importing it?
Honestly, not that hard once I reached the right guy. When I reached the wrong people, there was not a ton of exertion to help me find the right person. But once I found the right person, he was like “yeah, we definitely want that, send me your contact and we will take care of the rest” and that was that.
It might have also been easier because it was one of Thomas Jefferson’s favorites and Monticello was interested in it also. So there was some serious cultural importance to it. And it sounded like they were down to 2 sources we knew of in the UK so it was definitely at risk of being lost for good.
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that’s really great you did that
in case you missed it, here’s a youtube video on the ars tart cherry repository. the presenter cites the perishability of cherry trees as a major challenge for them, they’re constantly losing trees and having to graft and replant or whatever
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Thank you, had not seen that post.
@mroot, I began studying Duke cherry trees about 20 years ago, after I discovered an apparent wild Duke cherry growing in the backyard of where I was staying as a guest. A next door neighbor had been telling the household for years that the red berries were poison, so no one had ever eaten them - I quickly put those concerns to rest! The tree was young and produced abundant loads of VERY delicious bright red cherries! I moved out of the state, but vowed I would return someday and propagate the variety. And I did. But when I returned years later, the tree was badly infected with bacterial canker. I tried and tried to bud scions to rootstocks, but no luck, until one day I noticed a bud was absolutely thriving, and with not a sign of disease! But no sooner did I notice the new growth, I turned and somehow, don’t ask me how, managed to bump the tree and knock the new growth right off! Since then, the tree has only become eaten up with the bacterial canker, and impossible to collect uninfected wood from. ChatGPT recently gave me instructions on how to process budwood to kill the canker bacteria, so maybe I’ll give that a try.
There are a couple of things that I can tell you about Duke cherries that I have witnessed or been told: 1) the cherries I have seen exude a wonderfully strong and delightful smell, and 2) Duke cherries, in general, are very susceptible to bacterial canker. So, I’d advise to be very careful not to plant one near an already infected tree.
As for my current attempts at getting a tree from that mother tree, over the last ten years the mother tree produced, with help of the birds, a number of nearby ‘babies.’ Within the next few weeks I’ll be transplanting the only surviving young tree that was never mowed down to a new home. And fortunately, as of the last inspection, it was still free of bacterial canker. There is yet more to the story, and perhaps I’ll share it with you, later.
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I had ‘Kansas Sweet’ in the '90s, did fine but I wasn’t wowed by it. More tart than sweet but no strong flavor or aroma. Rather squashy texture. Might have been better in full sun all day.