Technically, you only planted 1 tree there that you are going to move. Suckers… you did not plant them, doubt you can be fined for what you did not plant 
Just planted Juliet and Valentine, will plant Cupid tommorow. They look so tiny now.
Planted all 3 now
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I hear that usually Sandcherry used as a rootstock for grafting a sour cherry. Sandcherry is highly suckering, can form colonies. Would be interesting to see what those suckers are, Juliet or Sandcherry, or some other plant. If the tree is grafted, and I think it is, otherwise it would be a bush, the suckers probably won’t be Juliet, it should be the same type of the rootstock it was grafted on.
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Floramaxx has affordable options for Canadian customers. I’m ordering haskaps and saskatoons this year.
Thank you, Ryan, will keep them in mind in case I need more of sour cherry bushes or huskaps. I got and planted 3 x Carmine Jewel trees, 2 x Juliet, 2 x Cupid and 1 x Valentine. Probably eight sour cherry trees/bushes are enough. I also got huskaps already, 2 Auroras, and one of each Indigo Gem, Borealis, Boreal Blizzard, Beauty and the Beast. I noticed that they have in their order form Sweet Thing sour cherry, not sure if they actually have it or not. Do you know what CVI red mark means next to the variety in the order form? Now trying to find persimmon tree(s) and couple of dwarf or semi-dwarf netctarine trees, looks like they don’t have any of these.
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It sounds like you already have a great start to your collection! I believe the CVI indicates the plants are certified virus free. They come as tissue culture plugs, at least the haskaps did last year. I can’t help you with the others on your list but the reference section has a list that may help. Good luck!
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So they take care of the importing and ship from the US?
Or, they’re shipped form Canada?
They are from Canada. They charge a flat rate for the phytosanitary certification and a fee for currency conversion to the US+ shipping. It was about $30 + shipping last year, I just sent this year’s order and am awaiting an invoice. They cannot ship their cherries to the US as Honeyberry USA and apparently a few others have exclusive rights to sell them here. Their other stuff is fair game as far as I know and decent pricing.
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They should be on their own roots. Some romance cherries like crimson passion are reportedly less hardy than others. It might make sense to graft cp. Western sand cherry is not compatible. Sand cherry can be used in many plum grafts but not cherry. They could use Evans or something similar as rootstock for romance cherries but I doubt they would. Carmine jewell , juliet and others make sense on their own roots
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Gurneys, Henry fields conglomerate parent company has the rights but honeyberry was first is my understanding. Years ago I was going to import carmine jewell from Canada before anyone thought of it the import permit was over $10,000 and 2 years later gurneys did it. 10k to those companies is pennies as they sell enough to recover the fees. The parent company for those who may not know is gardens alive Gardens Alive! - Wikipedia! They own brecks, Michigan bulb and many other companies people believe to be separate entities. They bought them all out years ago. It’s my opinion juliet being so much like carmine jewell might eventually form heavy suckered like carmine jewell.
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Agree, they should be on their own roots, but then when U of Sask advertised Juliet as very low suckering - something doesn’t add up here. Also, I still don’t undestand how they make tree form from bush. I just got resently Carmine Jewel trees on their own roots, and these definately look like trees, not bushes. On the other hand, my small Juliets, Cupids and Valentine look like bushes, not trees. These are my Carmine Jewel trees on the pic
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Graft a stick on some cherry rootstock. The roots cause the dwarfing and bush form in these hybrid Canadian cherries. So if on it’s own roots, I agree, it would be near impossible to make tree form. It appears they grow like regular tart cherries if grafted. Easy enough to see the graft union.
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It’s really not too hard. Just prune out all the suckers and it will naturally tend towards a tree form. Nothing to stop it from suckering in the future, though. Also, it’s not like suckering is all or nothing. I would expect a spectrum ranging from high suckering to none at all, and Juliet is lower suckering (but will still sucker some). Disturbing the roots will increase suckering tendency all else being equal.
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My juliets are sucker monsters!!!
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I would love to grow bush cherries…
I see where at least some of them say zone 3-8…
But I tried red currants and jostaberries here in my TN zone 7a and they could not take our heat/humidity.
Most of you folks that seem very interested in these, seem to be north of me.
Anyone successfully growing any of these bush cherry varieties in the South East …
Tennessee, Northern Alabama, North Carolina ?
Know if any of the varieties are better for the hot/humid south east ?
Thanks
TNHunter
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I’m growing some sort of successfully in central Georgia. I’ve got Carmine Jewel and Romeo. Both have grown vigorously and fruited moderately. Both have sent out suckers. One of the main carmine jewels died for reasons unknown. They both got a bad case of cherry leaf spot late in the summer (it was the wettest year in 30 years here) and by the end of the summer were almost completely defoliated. Birds the biggest problem-they eat the cherries about 2 or 3 days before they are ripe.
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@haldog… thanks for the report form central GA on the bush cherries…
My problem with Josta and Red Currants… was they just did not do well here… I tried them in a full sun location first and had 2 of each… 3 died… one the entire top died, but some shoots came up from the roots the next sprig (red currant).
I moved it to a morning sun only location, and bought another to go with it, and a couple more josta’s…
In a morning sun only location they lived, 3 years… but never really grew much at all… and early/mid summer they got some awful foliage issues, and would lose leaves, and be near naked by early fall. Obviously not happy here. Sounds like you had similar foliage issues with the bush cherries.
But they have “grown vigorously and fruited moderately”. My Josta and Red currents did not do that. In the time I had them I got like 6 individual fruits off them… Not really enough for a good taste test.
Steveb4 - has encouraged me to try Crandall Clove Currants, he thinks they will do better here. If I do try currants again, I will try those.
I got a new Gurneys catalog this week and that new Bush Cherry… Wowza - sure looks and sounds good. Self Pollinating, Zone 2-7. Looks like it is 3x size of Carmine Jewel in their picture.
I may have to buy one and try it for a few years to see how they do here…
They say that Juliet is the sweetest of the bunch (our sweetest, tastiest bush cherry yet).
My wife prefers “SWEET”… perhaps I will try a pair, Wowza and Juliet.
Central GA looks to be around 200 miles or more south of my location… perhaps they might be a little happier here.
@haldog - question are you growing your bush cherries in a full sun location ?
I don’t see any recommendation on that in the Gurneys catalog. OGW says this…
Site and Soil : 1/2 day to full sun and well-drained soil.
Starks says Full Sun.
Indiana Berry… full sun to partial shade, in moderate to well drained soil
Thanks
TNHunter
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Both are in about 1/2 sun, shaded in the morning and getting blasted in the afternoon. I know that’s the exact opposite of what would be ideal from a disease perspective, and probably also from a climate perspective for these plants, but because they are so experimental they don’t get a prime location.
The soil for the Carmine Jewel is mostly clay, the typical for around here red stuff that’s left over after the topsoil is gone. Of course I’ve been trying to improve it with organic matter topdressings, but that’s a slow process. The Carmine Jewels’ vigor is excellent in that clay. My original 3 inch plant grew over three seasons to three and a half feet, and also put out some very vigorous suckers. Then the main plant died, though the suckers live on and transplanted well last year. Perhaps it was the soil was too wet after all of our rains, perhaps the leaf spot defoliation, perhaps the soil borne disease that killed my Nanking cherries, probably a combination. The Romeo is in a much lighter soil, on a slope, so it has good drainage. It had one sucker that I transplanted a few weeks ago to be beside the Carmine Jewels, hoping for better fruit set with some cross pollination.
Thanks @haldog …
I will try them in a location that gets lots of morning sun but some shade from 2 or 3 pm on. Sounds like they are known to do well in 4 5 6… so protecting them from our HOT evening sun might be best.
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The barn door has opened. Look what I just purchased.
Cherry Muskateer Aramis $30.00 $30.00
| Cherry Muskateer Athos | $30.00 | $30.00 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Muskateer D’Artagnan | $30.00 | $30.00 | ||
| Cherry Muskateer Porthos | $30.00 | $30.00 | ||
| Cherry New Big Red Not Wowza | $30.00 | $30.00 | ||
| Cherry New Cutie Pie | $30.00 | $30.00 | ||
| Cherry New Sweet Things | $30.00 | $30.00 |
Yes, they will just be tiny things not available for pick up till late may.
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