Ha! Yes indeed!
Let’s go over the hard flesh types, Bing, Rainier, White Gold? Seems fairly firm to me. I have Glacier too, it is soft, all I have.
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There are several but the info is based on a west coast growing condition.
Attika, Benton, Regina, Saleh, Sweetheart, etc. all firm flesh with good eating quality.
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Wow, thanks for that info!
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So far the Indar is looking like a miracle cure for brown rot, I have gotten almost zero. Its doing quite a bit better than the MFF did. One problem I had in past years is things not rotting on the tree would start rotting when brought in. With the Indar the fruit inside is also doing a lot better, I don’t need to eat immediately. I am also getting some Euro plums I have not gotten really any of in ten years - my Pearl for example is starting to ripen, and zero brown rot on it!
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I had little actual brown rot, all from the branches that I could not reach through the net when spraying Indar.
However, I found I had almost 20% of rot/ooze caused by puncture wounds from insects (OFM?). Need to tighten up spraying and getting Surround on in a timely manner.
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That is really terrible!
Late for a reply, but may be helpful this year… My solution for a taller tree is the frame of a patio umbrella with DeWitt heavy duty bird netting on top - I purchased 1.5" wooden balls (ebay) with partially drilled a hole to put over the spoke ends.
IMG_0906.JPG
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Benton or Utah Giant if I only had room for either or? How is Lambert comparatively?
How is Benton compared to Utah Giant? is Lambert inferior to these two? Don’t have room for all three (I have many other varieties).
I have not tried either. I believe @Antmary has positive experience with Utah Giant.
Sweet cherries in humid east is challenging. So far, my home grown sweet cherries have not been as good a product as the store bought ones. That’s disappointing.
They might not be up to par with grocery store cherries but at $8/lb I can only buy so many 
I’ve found that cracking and rotting is enemy #1 for me. Where I am, it often rains when cherries are about to ripen, unfortunately. Having said that, Black Gold is cold hardy and very productive.
The varieties that do well in CA, OR or WA may not be as cold hardy for our colder zones, either.
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I read that Black Gold wasn’t very firm compared to most modern cherries?
I have not found any backyard grown sweet cherries that are firm. I use Bing as a standard for firmness.
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Interesting, I didn’t know that. I wonder how they get the firmness then, if it isn’t due to variety?
My trees are getting to be twenty foot tall.
It depends what you mean by “firm”. My White Gold, Regina, and Sandra Rose are all pretty firm, you can’t easily distort the shape with your fingers. Black Gold is less firm. Most of the old heirloom cherries are less firm than Black Gold. None of my backyard varieties are super crunchy like some grocery store cherries. Super crunchy like Bing usually means bad cracking.
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I compare all my cherry firmness to Bing. My Black Gold, Vandalay and Sweetheart are not firm.
Great (old) thread… and a lot of discussion on White Gold and Black Gold here. I’m finding conflicting information about bloom times… some threads indicating they are about the same, and the CSU extension saying White Gold is an early-mid bloomer. I question that CSU doc.
Can anyone who has had both clarify the bloom times for these cherries, and if you know, how their hardiness and disease resistance compares? I got the flavor bit already
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I have both but only the BlackGold has fruited for me. Both cherries are self fertile. They are both quite hardy for sweet cherries. My advice would be to buy both on a dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstock and see how they work out for you since time is very expensive and you can’t buy more of it. On dwarfing rootstock you can keep the trees in a small space and have a tree that is easy to care for.
BlackGold flowers very late and it’s bloom overlaps with my Montmorency tart cherry. It is susceptible to canker but many people on the forum have been successful in spite of this problem. I think if you would limit yourself to pruning only in the Summer your risk of having a problem with canker would be greatly diminished. Fruit set and yields are higher than on WhiteGold.
WhiteGold blooms earlier than BlackGold and that makes it a better pollinator for most cherries. BlackGold will escape late frosts but blooms too late to pollinate many sweet cherries reliably. See this bloom and pollen compatibility chart.
Other threads you may find of interest.
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