not if u train them correctly! 
They certainly are not as perfect as we would like. As usual it depends on the local environment. Mine didnāt drop. I had plenty of fruit but with the constant rain and high humidity they all rotted.
i believe i read somewhere that these bush cherries were still in the sour cherry category. Can anyone confirm that the sweetest bush variety can be sweet like bing?
Hmmm? I live just north of Saskatoon and the U of S site does not show Wowza as one of itās dwarf sour cherry releases. I do know, according to the CFIA site that shows all the cherries that the U of S registered for plant protection/ breeders rights, Valentine was not one of them.
So I guess you could take that variety, rename it and market it to the same people who bought Valentine. I also note that Henry Fieldās has the tm mark next to the name, that suggests to me that the name has been trademarked but it is not necessarily a new variety.
I locally havenāt seen any new variety listed but they might have.
1 Like
I havenāt tried all of them, but I donāt think any of the USASK bush cherries will taste sweet like a Bing. Sour cherries can get decent brix levels that approach the levels in sweet cherries, but will still have higher acid levels that make them taste less sweet. They are strongly flavorful at that point, but different than a sweet cherry. Also, some are firmer than others but I donāt think any are as firm as Bing. Nice and juicy, though. I havenāt tried Crimson Passion, which is supposed to be the sweetest. Maybe someone else can chime in on that one.
They got some of the cherries that were not named when the other cherries got included in the romance series but that came from the same breeding. I posted a quote in this thread a while back about it.
2 Likes
If the birds were trying to eat my cherries, that would be completely fine with me, . According to my mom, when I was very young we had a blueberry bush and never got anything from it until the cats started laying under it, waiting for birds. When the birds came for the berries, the cats would jump up for them. We moved away from that house, so I never got to witness it myself, but it sounds like they can be helpful under the right circumstances.
Iām not someone who wants pets, so I have to wait until AI, robotics and drones improve and come down in cost. Eventually I bet I can put out a sentry to guard against both birds and 4-legged varmint (squirrels, raccoons, etc).
6 Likes
We had a dog here years ago that would kill skunks in a heartbeat, would have killed coons and squirrels too Iām sure, and would patrol and keep the ravens away. She didnāt like the ravens at all.
It would be nice if you could get something that can be programmed to do a particular job because finding animals that do what you want is hit and miss
3 Likes
In my parents BY, there used to be an annoying squirrel that would sit up in their willow tree, on a low branch and make squirrel noises and harass my dog, always just out of reachā¦ Well one day I got there with my dog and the squirrel was just a little too low on the trunk, my dog ran fast toward the tree, jumped from the ground and pushed of off the trunk and snatched that squirrel as it was trying to escape. Never seen my dog jump that high, he must have been 8ft in the air. Squirrel was dead before he got back to the ground, what goes around comes around I guess!
8 Likes
gotta train my healer to do that!
Sorry I didnāt read the whole thread, I did awhile back but I missed your post.
1 Like
No they are not like a Bing, but you canāt beat them for pie or crisps. We like them canned and then on yogurt for breakfast or a winter smoothie.
5 Likes
I went ahead and ordered two Wowza cherries and a Juliet cherry. I cant stand Gurneyās āDouble the price then spam everyone with 30 to 50% off email codesā tactic but I have been kicking myself for not planting carmine jewel when it first came out. Especially after seeing all of the harvest pictures on here. I did order Romeo and Juliet from honeyberryusa in the past, but rabbits killed the Juliet and the Romeo hasnāt grown enough to fruit yet.
1 Like
I ordered one new wonderful plant when it first came out, I forget if it was the Sugar Pearl apricot or Carmine Jewel cherry, but they were sold out, so I had to wait a year or two to get it. Now if I see something I really want, I jump on it. Not that I have ever harvested anything from the new miracle fruits! It is the old stand-byes that have produced well.
2 Likes
I know, right? I almost pulled the trigger on carmine jewel the first year gurneys came out with it but figured it was all marketing hype. I planted a Juliet last year and have a darn wowza on the way this year. I may have buyers remorse but I wonāt be wishing I had done or two years ago.
4 Likes
The romance series is being sold in more locations now. I see the local tree nursery sells Juliet and probably some others ten miles down the road from me. You guys should check your local nurseries too to save money on them.
3 Likes
Was watching carmine jewell for years before it came to the United States. I even looked through the import paperwork to see what was involved. DNA gardens grew a bunch of stuff in Canada. Wowza costs way to much money in my opinion considering if you watch sales you can get carmine jewell for $10. Wowza will have bigger sweeter cherries but carmine jewell is a great cherry that produces huge amounts of fruit! We all want wowza but the more patience we have the sooner the price drops.
1 Like
Iād just like to know the whole story, whether it be a select seedling or renamed cupid or some cross of UofSK varieties, it would just be nice to know.
3 Likes
Iāll wait for some nice people on here to send me woodā¦
3 Likes
When these bushes were made there was lots of bushes not put into sales and still are. I would be more apt to believe that itās one of those. Les Kerr was working with mongolian cherries crossed with sour cherries. He had people help grow the bushes on their own land to help with the amount of land it takes to grow all these hybrids out. When he was on his deathbed he was talked into sharing his work with the U of S. Rick S took it from there and started crossing them with the university of Minnesotaās sour cherry North Star. That led to the creation of Carmine Jewel and the romance. Carmine Jewel is 25% North Star and 75% a mixture of mongolian and other sour cherries from Kerrs work. Thereās thousands of different varieties of these bushes.
1985, Dr. Cecil Stushnoff and Rick Sawatsky at the U. of. S. began crossing P. eminens
with a high quality, cold tolerant cultivar (Zone 4a) āNorth Starā from Minnesota. From
these crosses the new variety SK Carmine Jewel originated. This variety has an
optimum tree size for picking and much improved fruit quality.
3 Likes