According to DWN cherry bloom chart Brooks is a couple weeks late, see below. But then they say MR and RL should bloom together.

There are other possibilities like Black Pearl. But these dates will be climate and weather dependent. Black Pearl might work in one climate or weather sequence but not another.

Here is a link that might be useful: DWN cherry bloom chart

Duartes services both Home Depot and Lowes. I'd see if the garden manager will order them for you on whatever rootstock you think will do well in your area that Duarte has. You can usually see on their website.

Well, Lowe's doesn't purchase large fruit trees from Duarte, only berry plants. So, I have emailed Duarte to see what other vendors in my area might carry this tree. Duarte isn't always the most helpful place. This is the best communication I've had with them so far, but no guarantees I'll find out a vendor. We'll see what they come up with for me. If I knew of someone with scionwood, I'd just graft my own tree.

Patty S.

Thank you for the info on Duarte not supplying trees to Lowes.

I bought my Parfianka Pomegranate tree (grown by Duarte) at my local Sprouts Grocery store last Spring. Sprouts did have some other stone fruit trees with Duarte tags at the time, as well as grapes and berries, but nothing I had to have or didn't already have. I don't remember any of the trees being cherries, and Sprouts only stocked the trees once briefly in late Feb or early March.

I did try calling Orange County Nursery in Moorpark. They took my number and said they would get back to me if they have a retailer here in my part of L.A. or O.C. that ordered any Brooks Cherries or Early Burlat cherries from them this year, although he wasn't optimistic. I didn't find out if they had any at their retail location in Moorpark. They did recommend maybe asking at H & H in Lakewood if they could special order one. H & H buys Persimmon trees from O.C. Nursery so they do make deliveries there sometimes. Either way, O.C. Nursery was really friendly and helpful.

lianne, this is just my Lowe's area. Each Lowe's belongs to a district, and the decision as to what vendors to sku into their system is decided at the district level. So, it may be different for your Lowe's :-) So, more to the saga in finding a Brooks :-) One of the other inside sales folks did get back to me to let me know that they sold a large lot of Brooks to a distributor, who then in turn, sold them to Grocery Outlet. I happen to have two of those in my area, so I called one of them, and sure enough, they have a Brooks cherry tree there. I probably will not know what rootstock it's on, will ask Duarte if they can find out for me, as it's important to know how big it's going to bet (Colt is ridiculously precocious in my area, and really ends up being a standard tree, prefer Krymsk 6 or Weiroot 72). So, give your local Grocery Outlet a call if you have one, they may also have a Brooks available. I'll look and see what other cherries they have, and see if any others are very early. Brooks is about the earliest commercial cherries out here in S. Calif. I think I have a bag in my fridge right now, in fact. And yes, OC Nursery folks are very nice.

Patty S.

Patty:

You're not getting Brooks fruit from the USA right now. The earliest here would by May. Maybe from Chile.

Did you notice Brooks blooms 10-14 days later than Royal Lee according to DWN. That's probably the Modesto area. I think it's a long shot that it would work in Vista. But trying is the only way to know for sure.

Of course, what am I thinking. In fact, it's probably a very late cherry from Chile, since it would be end of their season, right? But whatever it is, it is fantastic. And yes, I did see that. There really isn't a good pollenizer option for the Minnie Royal and Royal Lee. If we could find something in between the two of them, that would be ideal. But, I did go ahead and pick up both a Brooks and a Coral Champagne. That way, they can cross pollinate each other, if they're too late for the MR and RL trees. Now, where to put them both :-)

Patty S.

Since I am a little familiar with how detailed plant patents have to be (seriously debated filing one recently myself,) I decided to search the patents on each of the low chill cherry trees for more help with the pollination timing. In the detailed patent descriptions of MR and RL, the blooming is listed 10 days & 11 days before Early Burlat. According to DWN's own bloom chart, that makes Tulare's bloom time pretty darn close for a pollinator for at least one of them, since one is behind the other. All three varieties (Tulare, MR, and RL) list March 1 or 2 as first bloom date in the applications. Whether or not Tulare is in compatible group to pollinate MR and RL is another matter.

I linked Minnie Royal's patent below. The patent number to look up Royal Lee is PP 12417, Brooks is PP 6,676, and Tulare is PP 6,407 and can be found at patents dot justia dot com

Here is a link that might be useful: The link to Minnie Royal's PP 12942

This post was edited by lianne25 on Fri, Jan 31, 14 at 20:18

Well, the best option for a cross pollinator for Minnie Royal and Royal Lee is Royal Hazel, but there is just no way to get this cultivar. I've tried, believe me. Tulare - maybe. Black Pearl probably would be a better bet. So, we'll just see how the Brooks and Coral Champagne do. They're pretty tightly budded right now, but they're very young, so can't really judge for at least two years in the ground. Fruitnut, any suggestions for locating Royal Hazel? Lianne, let us know what you or your friend end up with, and let us know how it works out. MANY folks who have the Minnie Royal/Royal Lee pairing would love to find a better option.

Patty S.

Can't help with Royal Hazel. And there is no assurance that would work either.

I imagine Minnie Royal and Royal Lee do bloom together as DWN bloom chart shows, probably in Modesto where the data probably originates, with ~1,000 chill hours. But apparently they don't always oblige where they're really useful, in low chill areas. In another year or another area all that could all change.

Steve, this is a persistent issue all over California. Talked to many of my CRFG friends and we all see the same thing - Minnie Royal blooming about a week or two before Royal Lee. And, I have 600 ch, so not that low. I even had Tom Spelling admit this to me. So, even DWN is aware of this discrepancy, even up in the Modesto area where DWN is located. If we could just find something that blooms in between reliably. That would be great as it would then cover both the MR and the RL. Now, all that being said - last season I saw the same thing - Minnie Royal starting early, but last season, Minnie Royal just kept blooming, and I had a pretty good crossover. Not a huge crop, but better than last year.

And, on another cherry topic, l see that I may have fruit this year from my two Sandra Rose trees. So, cross you fingers for me I got enough chill hours this winter. Not a very cold winter for us, and zero rain. So, the good thing is I won't have the PLC pressure as in past years. Bad thing, so fruit may set erratically with my more marginal stone fruits.

Patty S.

Patty, I am so glad you are trying Brooks and Coral Champagne. I can't wait to hear how they do. I if I lived in San Diego, I would jump in my car to one of the Grocery Outlets and pick up the same set of cherry trees for my neighbor for her B-day ;) She still has a little room for more trees.

I think you folks are right that Royal Hazel would be good choice for a pollinator, timing wise for MR and RL. The patent lists it as blooming 10 days before Bing. We just have to wait for the patent to expire in about 13 years for them to even consider releasing it to home growers! My neighbor's MR and RL would be 20 years old by then, and then it will take another 3 or 4 years to get one mature enough to bloom. I think we might try planting Tulare in the mean time.

Here is a link that might be useful: Royal Hazel Plant Patent #19920

The other very nice feature of the Coral Champagne is that it is naturally a compact, smaller tree (like Craig's Crimson). So, if space is a concern, it's a nice option. And, when Royal Hazel goes off-patent, I'll be grafting my own tree :-)

Patty S.

Fruitnut, do you have either Black Pearl or Black Gold cherries going, and if so, can you tell me how they do for you? Talked to Stephen from Cummins Nursery, who is a great guy, and has been very helpful with certain stone/pome cultivars in the past for me. He tells me Black Gold is doing well in S. California, per reports coming back to them. Tom, do you have either of these cherries by chance? I think their CH's are going to be marginal for me, but I cannot find any info on CH's on either of these cultivars. But, going to give them a chance, along with a few other "marginal" cultivars for me (Lapins, Sandra Rose, Royal Rainier). So, it will continue to be the "So Cal Cherry Experiment" continuing saga...

Patty S.

Patty:

No neither of those. I'm happy with what I have and don't really need the early ones. Doubt they will eat better than the latter ones. After eating Orangered apricot last year the cherries aren't as inviting and they mature for me the same time. Now the relative maturity thing might change this year since I upped greenhouse chilling to 1270 Utah hrs this year, more than twice previous years. Both Robada and Orangered were swelling buds before I quit chilling. Whereas in the past they limped along with bloom after all the other cots were done.

I wanted this year to be one where I knew chilling wasn't a limiting factor and see how things respond. Cherries and a few apricots were the things that I think suffered the most in the past from inadequate chilling. Maybe I'll know a little more in a couple months.

The greenhouse went 69 straight days, 1656 hrs, with temperatures never below 39 nor above 57, mostly 39-51F. That gave, very conservatively, 1270 Utah hrs or 77% efficiency of chilling. It was a good year here for chilling efficiency. Lots of cold nights that I could hold at 39-41F with a heater. And dew points low enough to take 10-12F off afternoon highs via shade cloth and evaporative cooling. In southern CA one could probably double chilling hrs via shade cloth and evaporative cooling day and night. You won't need the heater like we do.

I was able to more than triple Utah hrs compared to the same period outside, 350 Utah hrs.

This post was edited by fruitnut on Sat, Feb 1, 14 at 14:53

My lips will never touch another apricot! No comparison to cherries. You guys must grow some really bad cherries!
I saw a CA nursery with some unusual cultivars, maybe some of these might be useful?
Look at White Gold too btw. Some other universal pollinizers include
Sam
Glacier
Angelia
Tehranivee
Kordia
Vandalay
Hartland
Sweetheart

Here is a link that might be useful: Burchell nursery

Drew:

I guess you've never had a good apricot. But then lack of experience doesn't seem to reduce your conviction.

Excellent, Steve, I still would love to see your greenhouse set up one of these days, you have done an exceptional job with it. Unfortunately for me, being relegated to growing outside, my choices are mostly limited to early varieties, as most low chill cherries are also obligatorily early. So, we'll see how Lapins, Craig's Crimson, Sandra Rose (very excited for this cherry), and Black Gold. Hopefully I can get enough CH's to get these to all bear. I"m only at about 450 CH right now, but have all of Feb. to go, still, and we're FINALLY in a winter weather cycle, so I may get up to maybe 500-550 once it's all said and done. But, will never get beyond maybe 650 ever, I don't think.

Drew, I don't think it's really an "either or" proposition. I love apricots as well, and have several cultivars, as well as some great apriums, plumcots, and pluots. Fruitnut has limited space in his greenhouse and only certain cultivars earn a spot. He has several excellent cherries, and is happy with those he's kept in his greenhouse. Orangered apricot has been a real winner, and I'd love to add it to my orchard - still looking for it here in California. I know Burchell's, a very nice bunch of folks. All varieties you've listed are much later than Minnie Royal and Royal Lee. Early Burlat is probably a possibility, but they don't propagate it. Black Tartarian requires more chill hours than I can provide it. Have Brooks and Coral Champagne, but even those two are still probably too late.

Patty S.

Quoting hoosierquilt

"I’m only at about 450 CH right now, but have all of Feb. to go, still, and we're FINALLY in a winter weather cycle, so I may get up to maybe 500-550 once it's all said and done. But, will never get beyond maybe 650 ever, I don't think.”

Based on my predictions, February will be much colder than January.

The first January cold episode will be on the 3rd �" the 4th.

The second cold episode will be on the 7th - the 9th.

The third would be right around the 20th.

Quoting Drew51

“My lips will never touch another apricot! No comparison to cherries. You guys must grow some really bad cherries!”

Have you tried an Angelcot apricot, yet?

If not, try one! They are the sweetest apricot variety that I’ve ever eaten. The bad news is that they are expensive….The price: $5.99 per two pounds.

Here is what the weather models are predicting a week from today.

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/images/ens/t850std_f168_us.html

Thanks, weatherman, that is very encouraging. I may get to 550 ch this winter, and that would be great.

Patty S.

Well it looks like you looked at all the possibilities. I guess at this point you need to bend Dave Wilson Nurseries about the problem. That many people are having this problem.
On apricots, they are just way too sweet for me. And the flavor is somewhat repulsive. I know I'm not alone as none of my friends will eat them either. OK, one friend Alice likes them, but that's it. For me it's the whole package, the sweetness, the taste, and the texture are all wrong. Hey I won't eat asparagus either. Now the pluots are OK, as they are more like plums. I don't even taste any apricot. Although so far I find them kind of bland. I doubt I have had a good one though. Here apples and cherries at even the grocery store are awesome! Our cherries are almost as crisp as apples. Grapes are great too. Again hard as rocks, nice! Cherries are sweet, but they have ton's of flavor, and so do apricots, I just find the flavor not good. And no, I will never eat another one.

Orangered was developed by Rutgers, you know they have developed a lot of great fruit! Yeah my apologies about the comments. It's my own limitations. It's great when somebody finds something that really is worthwhile.
Back to cherries, If DWN seems to have others that would work, we should say something to them in their forums. I would but I don't have these trees. This has been an interesting discussion and good luck solving the problem.

Patty, When I first saw your post I was thinking"Rio" Vista but then looked up your city and found out your near San Diego. So different climate than me. I was interested in DWN Cherry trees and liked what I read about the Black Pearl so I looked into seeing if I could find a nursery which carried it. Unfortunately I found out same as you that is only available commercially. DWN I don't think has much control over when it will be available for retail as doing a Google search I found that the "Black" series of cherries is Patented by another company with Cornell U. so both Stark and DWN are just licensed to grow. I have a Sweetheart cherry I like very much and its grafted on Gisela 6. My local CRFG sold Colt and Mahaleb rootstock at their scion exchange, do you know any nursery I can get the Gisela 6 rootstock from?

Fruitnut, Hoosierquilt or anyone else..."And, I tried a group buy for Royal Lynn and Royal Hazel, and we were told that DWN didn't have any, so we had to take them off the list :-( But, I was able to add the Honey Royale, Honey Blaze and Tasty Rich to this special order."

Wowee. Is that something DWN will do? Will they sell commercial varieties to private growers who co-op together?

I'd be down for RHazel, RLynn, Black Pearl, REdie, RHelen.
How many people need to be in a group for a "group buy?"

There may well be special circumstances with a CRFG group buy. And I don't know about other groups buying. But can tell you what it takes for an individual to buy straight from DWN. This may not be set in stone either but I need to buy trees in bundles and that's usually 10 trees per bundle. So you can't order less than 10 trees of any variety. Also the order must total 150 trees.

Right now they are pretty well sold out for the next two yrs. The nursery business for fruit trees both retail and commercial is hot right now.

Not really, babyg. YOU have to be the "commercial grower". DWN doesn't really know you're doing a group buy - that would get organized on your side. You would have to see if you can submit a commercial order on your own, then whatever you do after that, is your business. We are not doing any group buys this year, you would have to organize this yourself, and I would suggest contacting your own CRFG chapter to see if someone would be willing to do this for your chapter. And, it used to be that DWN would break up the 100 tree single cultivar minimum, as long as all the individual trees equaled 100 trees. That may have changed since we put together our group buy a couple of years ago.

Patty S.

Patty:

How about an update on your production? Was this yr a loss to lack of chilling? What are you liking and not so much?

Hi guys. Tom recently did a radio interview on July sixth that addressed the new varieties of low chill cherry in the works. He doesn't specify when they will be released (along with new varieties of nectaplum) but does mention there are 25-30 varieties under evaluation. His complete interview starts at 23 minutes but the bit on cherries starts at 56 minutes.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://archives.warpradio.com/btr/GardenAmerica/070611.mp3

Fruitnut, VERY poor production year, almost no chill hours due to a warm winter. And, due to a huge sprinkler leak down line from most of my trees, they had been water starved for some time. Not enough to look alarming, but enough not to produce well. Fixed that, thanks to my neighbor who could see the "geyser" from his yard (hidden by a lot of growth down at the low point of my "jungle" section of my yard.) Almost no cherries, but the handful we had continue to be excellent. Both Minnie Royal and Royal Lee are really very, very good. I was not expecting excellence, but really they are about a 9 on a scale of cherry flavor 1 to 10 for what we can grow here in my climate. Firm, very juicy, rich, complex and very sweet, not tart at all. And, MInnie Royal consistently sets better than Royal Lee, and really is just as good (don't believe what DWN says, that it's "good" and Royal Lee is "very good", they are equally as good, imho.) Had some Sweet Treat Pluerries from my neighbor's tree (his Burgundy bloomed much better than mine did) which were actually very interesting tasting. Almost spicy. The skin was a little bit tart, but not too bad (and I am a hater of tart stone fruit skins, ick.) I like them alot because they're different than anything else I have. And, the tree itself is quite vigorous. Had some outstanding Galaxy and Saturn peaches. Is it possible for a peach to be too sweet? The Galaxy peaches must of had a brix of 26 or more. Like eating pure sugar. Better not to let get overripe, as you do need just a wee bit of tartness, but when picked on time, they were simply outstanding. You can just stand at the tree, pop out the pit, two bites, on to the next one :-) Like little jewels. Need to have the hose nearby to rinse off all the juice :-) Arctic Star nectarine is always full of fruit, even with a bad winter, and continues to be very reliable and a very classic-tasting nectarine for me. Have to hack that tree back brutally, as it's at the end of the run, downhill, and probably gets more water than anything else in my line of trees. But, the outstanding tree and continues to be, is the Flavor King Pluot and Spice-Zee nectaplum. They are the best of the interspecifics that I grow. Indescribably delicious.

TONS of early apples this year, great Annas, better tasting than any year so far. And, my Red Fuji and regular Fuji are full of apples this year. Two years ago they were out of this world. Made me buy two more Fujis that are just their first full season out in the front of my yard (no fruit set). Great pears that the squirrels got all of (I am going to have to set poison bait traps out under my pears, sigh...) I got one, it was my Pineapple pear, and yes, there is a hint of pineapple. The tree set heavily, and no indication of blight this year, thankfully. Still awaiting my later pears - Seckel is full again, not sure if I have much else of anything on my other 12 or 15 pears this season (not enough chill, still too young for some of the heirloom cultivars to set),

Going to yank out the wimpy Bella Peacotum. Apricots just aren't so happy here, none have done well, yet, and this cultivar I think is just too much of a "science experiment" to do well. I will consider replacing it with this new low chill cherry when it's ready.

Oh, and my higher chill cherries acted just like stone fruits that need more chill - weird leaf flush, no fruit. So, we'll see how they do next season. Have about 4 or 5 different higher chill varieties, including two Sandra Rose. So, it is the big cherry experiment still underway.

Thanks for the link, Fireball, I will watch it in its entirety when I have a chance, especially the 56 min. mark.

Patty S.

Thanks Patty glad you got something in a bad yr. Tom and you both seem very impressed with Spicezee. I have found it an average nectarine amongst those I grow. Got a new tree this yr and it does grow and set fruit buds very well. I'll have a nice crop on the second leaf tree. I wasn't impressed with Bella Gold or Sweet Treat. I'd call them both curiosities.

Sweet Bagel is the only donut peach I've tried and it was poor. Sauzee King the donut nectarine tastes good but is small if this yr on a first leaf tree is any indication.

My best fruit this yr, Flavor Supreme, but it is tart at skin and pit so you might not like it.

Fruit it I planted Flavor Supreme last year, but alas, no fruit set this year. Hoping for a better year this year.

Patty S.

Thanks guys, it's just so frustrating, the solution exists, but we can't buy it! 150 trees would be a serious business venture for me.

FireBallSocal - great link! Spellman says DWN are evaluating 30 varieties each of low chill cherry and nectaplum for release in near future. That's so cool. I will hold some space for both. I also had no idea that Santa Rosa plum was a straight plum x cot cross rather than a plum. (I am planning to use a weeping Santa Rosa plum as a pollinator for Flavor Grenade & King. The bloom chart says that Santa Rosa-WeepingSR-LateSR start blooming sequentially about one day after another.) I'm also glad I heard him say that he thinks there is "no such thing as a high chill apple." (27 of 30 "high chill" apples produced well in Irvine!)

For those of you in Southern California or zone 10 elsewhere, how would you rank these nectarines in flavor (and hardiness):
Snow Queen, Double Delight, Panamint and Spice Zee NP.

Quote from Drew51:
"On apricots, they are just way too sweet for me. And the flavor is somewhat repulsive. I know I'm not alone as none of my friends will eat them either. For me it's the whole package, the sweetness, the taste, and the texture are all wrong."

I love apricots. I find peaches too sweet and mushy, and I do not like the flavor. Plums have a seductive taste, but are too juicy. Apricots are just right. You talk about the whole package, apricots are just the right level of sweetness for me, and the texture is 'meaty' and substantial. I don't even need a knife it eat one, easily to tear apart into two pieces with my fingers, without spraying any juice out. I could eat apricots all day. For all these reasons, think I like eating them more than cherries.

I'll ask on a new thread, too, but in case any of the Cristobalina people are still following this thread, if you have grown them, are they actually very sweet?

Yes, they are very sweet, rather interesting. Sort of a spicy after taste. Not as sweet, say, as an apricot, but still quite sweet.

Patty S.

Thanks Patty. Sounds intriguing!

Is cristobalina cherry under patent. If not does anyone know where i can get access to scionwood?

Update on MR and RL: 3 yrs in ground. Royal lee seems to be a little behind minnie royal but not as much as last year. I hope this year will be the first year i get something from my trees.

You cannot get scionwood at this time, Lizzy. This is a patented cultivar, so still under patent :-) You'd have to buy a tree through Dave Wilson trees, and whatever local retail nursery carries them.

Patty S.

Do you mean Cristobalina or the Royals? Either way, I'm happy to abide by patents. I figure those folks work hard to develop these wonderful fruit trees!

I think it was goyo who asked.

Actually, all. Minnie Royal and Royal Lee are also fairly new and still under patent. You can always search patents if you want. Just Google "Minnie Royal patent" or any other cultivar and the word patent, and you'll come up the patent info links :-)

Patty S.

I tried searching for cristobalina cherry patent info but nothing comes up. Can anyone direct me to the patent info on this variety. The only info I have found is that it is an old spanish variety. Thank you.

If cristobalina is a different cultivar than anything we've been talking about in this thread, I would start a brand new message thread.

Patty S.

Zaiger was working with different cherry tree cultivars from Spain. It's quite possible—I would even say very likely—they could have used Cristobalina to breed Royal Lee. The descriptions of these cherries sound quite similar to each other in many respects, dark colored flesh, sweet, and good flavor.

quote by goyo626:

"I tried searching for cristobalina cherry patent info but nothing comes up. Can anyone direct me to the patent info on this variety. The only info I have found is that it is an old spanish variety. Thank you. "

I feel reluctant to post this again, because I have already posted in several other places in this message board, but here it goes... There is a low chill Spanish heirloom variety cherry called Cristobalina. It is self-fertile and requires about 200 chill hours.

Cristobalina has been grown for generations of cherry growers in Andalucia and Valencia, where winters are as mild as they are in Southern California, and reliably produces fruit despite lack of a cold winter. It is known to flower mid-February and produces dark purple, delicious sweet cherries. The only negative is that the fruit does not have as much edible flesh as other more popular cherry varieties, but thinning the tree can help lead to more full-sized fruit.

Of course there would not be a patent on it, and this variety is not widely known in America.

Also, I am not sure if this is relevant here, but I just found a published reference stating that the ornamental Formosan cherry can be used to pollinate sweet cherries (see the thread titled "cherry and cherry blossom questions"). Unlike the other ornamental cherries, the Formosan cherry is a low-chill variety, so might bloom closer to the same time.

The likely reason I think that no one ever noticed ornamental cherries could be used as pollinators is because virtually all of the ornamental cherry blossom trees in America are either the kanzan or Yoshino variety. The Kanzan variety is sterile due to extra chromosomes from hybridization, and Yoshino is a terrible pollinator and does not attract pollinating insects (both of these varieties are not really considered 'natural' and are all propagated through cuttings). While Formosan ornamental cherries have been planted in the Southern regions of the U.S., this has, until very recently, been mostly outside the climate range in which fruiting cherry trees could grow and produce fruit. (and a higher-chill cherry would bloom at a different time than Formosan cherries, making cross-pollination unlikely)

Don't give up, cherry trees can take up to 4-7 years before they begin producing any fruit in warm climates (typically less if they are on dwarf rootstock).

(if someone really wanted to see if they could try to get any fruit from something like a Bing cherry tree out where you live, I would say it might take up to 10 years, though I'm not sure why anyone would bother)

Typically though, with Royal Lee/Royal Minnie Lee you should begin seeing a couple cherries within the third or fourth year. If there's nothing by the fifth year something is probably wrong.

Again, I want to emphasize that everything I stated here only applies to those in warmer climates without adequate chill.

We have lost two successive Royal Lee trees to fire blight, leaving us no cross-pollinator for our Minnie Royal. Has anyone else found Royal Lee to be particularly susceptible to fire blight? Reluctant to buy a third tree is the same result is expected.

I've never seen Fire Blight on a cherry tree. FB affects pome fruit trees (apples, pears, quince and other Rosaceae family. Do you perhaps mean bacterial canker? If you're in an area of the country that has cool humid springs like my area (coastal S. California), and we've had a very May Grey/June Gloom spring, which tends to promote fungal and bacterial infections, you will have to monitor your cherry trees. If you treat right away, you can save your tree. Royal Lee is not any more susceptible to BC than any other cherry cultivar. And right now, it's your only cross pollinator option for MR.

Patty S.

Hi, I live in Chula Vista which is zone 10A. I recently purchased a Coral Champagne Cherry tree from Costco in the 12.5. Gallon size but it looks closer to a 15 Gallon. Can this bear fruit although it requires 400 chill hours? What would be the best cross pollinator? I have grafted Lapins, Bing, Stella, Utah Giant, and heirloom pie cherry on top my Nectarine, Plum, and Apricot trees. These are pushing leaves and a few are flowering but I'm not sure if these will cross pollinate. Should I return the tree? It was only $32.!! Has anyone reported success with this variety in SoCal?