Earlier in spring, my wife was quite taken by the blooming weeping cherries in the neighborhood. This seems like a good chance for me to smuggle in another fruit tree, if I can just find the right variety.
Optimize for flowers over fruit in this case. What would be the best cultivar of weeping cherry that still produces usable fruit? Sweet cherries would be preferred, but I realize that sour is more likely to have what I need.
I don’t know of any that produce fruit? I heard they can produce fruit at times, and it is terrible.
I happen to like weeping trees a lot, and I’m into edible landscapes. All i found was a weeping mulberry, and the weeping Santa Rosa plum. Many peach don’t weep, but have double flowers like Red Baron. which also is an excellent tasting peach.
I like your strategy. Someone please post us a lifeline to this type cherry tree. Bill
Tjasko,
Since no one could come up with a weeping cherry tree with tasty fruit, would your wife be OK with you growing a weeping Santa Rosa plum? It fits the bill except for it is not a cherry tree.
Most flowering cherries are produced by inducing genetic mutation with chemicals (you treat the seeds with the chemical). The chromosomes double, triple, etc. Plants are usually sterile, like a mule, no way to produce fruit. At least that’s how we did it at MSU in the 80’s. Not sure now?
Weeping Santa Rosa plum does look like it might work. Flower-wise, it looks about the same, which is what she cares about. I’ll need to do more research.
There are a few people here who grow it. You may want to create a new post asking for their input.
I’d like to grow it but my zone 6a (or 5b these past two years) would be iffy for it.
To each there own but asthetically I do not really care for the look of weeping trees. Kind of end up looking like a bald guy with a comb over. I’m not aware of any weeping cherries that fruit. I agree if you like the look and want fruit that Santa Rosa is probably your best bet.
I’m growing four different types of sweet cherries here. They are Bing Xtra dwarf, Vandalay, Black Gold and Nugent. I think some of you might get away with smuggling in a sweet cherry tree if you try the Nugent. I have one growing in a fenced part of my yard here that is in it’s 3rd leaf this year. Only got two cherries off it this year but it does have the benefit of flowering profusely at a young age! I’ll attach a pic of it and you all can decide if you can get away with trying to smuggle it into your yard. 
I also just found a pic of it back in may when it was flowering and you can see how much the branches have grown in a weeping type fashion in just the last couple of months. It hasn’t grown any taller but has gotten a lot wider!
Nanking cherry tree looks beautiful and fruit is edible and very hardy too.
