So who has had success growing this family of cherries from seed, @TheDerek? Have any fruited, are they true to type? Or should o just wait for root suckers
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they grow fine for me, cj seeds did at least. none fruiting yet tho. gonna b a few yearsâŚ
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Do you think they were cross pollinated?
hard to know for sure. they are the largest bushes in my yard but there are other cherries near them so itâs possible.
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this got me thinking i should try grafting romeo and juliet onto my cj seedlings. i havenât had much luck grafting cherries. last year i put 4 grafts onto my MM tree and only one took. any tips? would that hot pipe grafting work for these as bare root. suggestions?
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Ive been told repeatedly sour cherries act as pollinators for sour cherries but sweet cherries will not pollinate sour cherries and vice versa. To complicate that so called known fact i know there are hybrids of sweet and sour cherries.
http://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/category/prunus/2
Carmine Jewell is a hybrid cross between pie cherries (P. cerasus) and dwarf ground cherry (P. fruiticosa). Specifically northstar is one of the parents. This link gets more specific Canadian Dwarf Sour Cherries â Prunus x kerrasis â Carrington REC
"Dwarf sour cherries are being planted extensively in the Canadian Prairie Provinces. Their advantage is that they are adapted to the use of the machine harvesters used by Saskatoon growers. In the Prairie Provinces, these sour cherries are hardy (Zone 2), pest free, non-suckering, compact shrubs with completely red-fleshed fruit that has a sugar content almost twice that of Michigan cherries.
Sour cherry production in the Canadian Prairies is a relatively recent development. The University of Saskatchewanâs âRomance Seriesâ cherries were officially released in 2004. The number of operations reporting the crop climbed from 47 operations in 1996 to 155 in 2006, and to 193 in 2011, the latest reporting year. The area devoted to sour cherries in the three Prairie Provinces climbed from 37 to 324 acres. (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture.)
History: In the late 40âs, Dr. Les Kerr began intercrossing Prunus cerasus and P. fruiticosa at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canadaâs Morden Research Center. Later, as director of the PFRA Tree Nursery (now Forestry Farm Park), in Saskatoon, he released and promoted a cold-hardy bush sour cherry that was never named. These short shrubs with quite sour fruit may still be sold as Mongolian cherries today.
In the 1970s, the University of Saskatchewan imported and began evaluating hybrids of P. cerasus and P. fruiticosa from Siberia under the direction of Dr. Stewart Nelson and technician, Rick Sawatzky. Dr. Kerr donated his cherry germplasm to the university in the 1980s and breeding work continued with goals to combine cold hardiness, dwarf stature and fruit quality.
In 1985, Dr. Cecil Stushnoff and Rick Sawatsky began making crosses with the high quality, cold tolerant cultivar (Zone 4a) âNorth Starâ from Minnesota. In the late 1990s the university distributed thousands of improved seedlings under the name of P. eminens to farmers and gardeners. (This name was used because P. fruiticosa x P. cerasus hybrids resemble P. eminens, which is believed to be a naturally occurring hybrid of these two species.) The cooperating growers helped to identify superior seedlings which were used in future breeding.
These crosses with âNorth Starâ resulted in the release of the variety âSK Carmine Jewelâ in 1999. In 2004, five more cherry varieties were released under the title: Romance Series. They include: âJulietâ, âValentineâ, âCupidâ, âRomeoâ and âCrimson Passionâ. All of these cherries are bigger, redder and sweeter than Michigan pie cherries. These hybrids are 75% P. cerasus and 25% P. fruiticosa and will probably be named P. x kerrasis to honor the work of Dr. Kerr. The fruit easily approaches a Brix rating of 16 to 22%, but still contains the citric acid than makes them âtartâ or âsourâ cherries. Typical âMontmorencyâ pie cherries fall into the range of 11 to 16 degrees Brix.
Growing Cherries: In the US, we can now buy 4 varieties from this series: âCarmine Jewelâ, âCrimson Passionâ, âJulietâ and âRomeoâ. âCarmine Jewelâ is the smallest and tartest fruit. âCrimson Passionâ is large and lower in acidity, but it has not borne fruit regularly at CREC. We are just planting the other two in 2015. Plants are self-fruitful and should produce a crop from just one shrub.
These plants would like to grow as shrubs and not trees. Because they sucker so little, the recommendation is to plant the one-year transplants 3-4 inches deeper than the current top of the root ball in order to bury extra buds that can serve as âback upsâ in case the upper plant is girdled or broken off.
The plants are hardy and grow quickly. Prune in a vase shape â or donât prune at all. Fruit isnât ripe until several weeks after color change. Be watchful for the insect pest Spotted Winged Drosophila (SWD) as cherries are a favorite fruit in which to lay eggs. If SWD is a concern, pruning is recommended to decrease shady resting places for the insect and to increase spray penetration.
âHistory information is derived from published material at www.fruit.usask.ca
"
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I canât speak for everyone else but my carmine jewel cherries are suckering a lot for only being in the ground for a few years. My Romeo and Juliet have only been planted for a couple and Iâve not noticed any suckers from them but I guess thatâs because they are still getting established. My Crimson passion is on par with what everyone else seems to think, weak growers and shy bearers.
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Well those are made by changing the ploidy levels with chemicals, otherwise the embryo would be sterile if it even formed. Diploid sweet are treated with colchicine which will make them tetraploids. Then they can be crossed with sours. This is the only way to do it.
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I do wonder how they do it in nature
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My guess is they somehow produce a mutated sport or something. When mom and dad have different ploidy levels the children have an odd number of chromosomes. It works sometimes, like a mule, which is sterile because it has odd sets of chromosomes. I was thinking a sour might pollinate a sweet, but that would mean the seeds are no good. It still may have fruit. Iâm not aware of any natural crosses. Maybe a natural sweet could have a tetraploid sport branch where the chromosome doubled for whatever reason? That branch could cross with tart cherries. Or a tart sport becomes diploid? Not sure? Hard to find info on the subject. I wanted to cross blackberries but the ploidy levels are all over the place. I did find out tayberry and Marion has 6 of each chromosome, so can cross. I want to do that cross sometime. Hexaploids!
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Good thing making hybrid dogs isnt this complicated!
LOL! Funny you mention this as I might have found a date for my dog! 
I like this dog so much, I want another from this line. Hope to score a puppy for stud service. It looks like a go! Yes!
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Ive been trying for years to find a bitch for my buddy, hes half lab and half texas lacy, so kinda a mutt but he mostly looks lab. Great dog tho and had ZERO luck so we bought a female half golden half yellow lab, but she mostly looks like a yellow lab, last year. we might have puppies with them this summer, or next winter, not sure yet. Hes getting old tho, turned 11 about 3 months ago, not sure how much longer hell be capableâŚ
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@Drew51
Not that we dont have enough projects but here are some natural crosses if you want one https://oikostreecrops.com/products/organic-fruit-trees-shrubs-plants/cherry-trees/wild-red-sour-sweet-cherry/
"This wild strain of the common pie cherry cross with sweet cherry called Gondouinii is mostly known from the variety Napoleon. The fruit can have a bit of a tang or tartness along with the normal sweetness of black cherry. The seedlings we offer are from the trees pictured (like almost all the images on our website-they are real!) from a nearby farm that allows us to collect seeds from this almost timber like grove of them. The trees are very vigorous and upright in growth easily averaging 2-3 ft. per year in good soil. Fruits produced often tend to be black 1/2 inch in size. Some trees yield a dark red fruit. Even though not a grafted tree all the trees are highly productive. Great for fresh use, pies, jam and juice.
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Plant SpecsGenus & Species:
Prunus cerasus x avium (gondouinii)
Seed Source:
Ecos Michigan
Hardiness:
-25
Height (ft):
70
Width (ft):
30
Pollination Requirements:
Self fertile and will cross with other sweet cherries.
Soil:
Does well in sandy and sandy loam.
Climate:
Zone 4-8
Ease of Cultivation:
Easy to grow but some organic sprays may be needed for insect or disease reduction on fruit.
ProductSku#PriceQuantityPot, 18-24" WRSC_18-24$17.75Qty: Pot, 2-3â WRSC_2-3$19.75Qty:"
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Will north star and romance cherries cross pollinate?
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I saved all the Crimson Passion seeds I got this year. Cleaned them up today for fridge storage. Has anyone grown out their Romance series cherry seeds to the point where they have fruit?
I have not done this intentionally, rather more through benign neglect. I have a volunteer seedling that fruited well this year. To my eyes, the fruit was impossible to distinguish from the parent. Mind, I am a casual cherry grower, and donât scrutinize as closely as some mightâbut it seemed very nice. I had intended to remove it this Spring, but it looked too nice, and was rewarded with a nice crop. Canât reliably say how long it took to come into bearing. Itâs taller than I am.
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Iâm saving a few Romeo seeds, which flowered heavily and had a few very tasty fruit in hot and humid central Georgia. Thereâs no other Romance series cherries within a mile (probably not any but mine within 30 miles). Either it pollinated itself, my Carmine Jewel a mile away pollinated it, or one of the many other Prunus species around-angustifolia, salicina, salicina hybrids, cerasifera, serrulata, serotina are all within 1/4 mile-pollinated it. On a 0-100 scale, my expertise level on likely pollination partners is close to 0. Any thoughts on likely pollination partners, viability of seeds if self-pollinated, and how long to cold-stratify the seeds?
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My understanding is that they all have a self-fertile ability but you get bigger crops with cross pollination. Mine aborted all their fruit in the previous two years and only this year bore crops but this year was also different because the early spring caused Romeo and Crimson Passion to come more into overlapping bloom than any previous year.
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I bought yellow cherry trees from Oikos. The one that survived is large and healthy (30 ft) but not self fertile.
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