I have my CJ for 3 years and so far nothing negative. It started fruiting last summer. No disease or insect damage so far. The regular bush cherries (nunking) are completely care free here, so I hope CJ will be care free too. It is own root, so you don't need to worry about rootstock. For nunking cherries, if you harvest them w/o waiting too long you will beat the birds. I don't know yet if it is going to be the same with CJ, but if not, it is easy to put a net over the bush. It is much easier with 5-6 feet bush than when you have to net the tree. The taste was good, but I had only a handful of first cherries. Hopefully this year it will be a real harvest for me. My zone is 6B, I am in MD. Summers here are quite hot. Olga

don555, thanks for the info and sharing your experience. That is reassuring. I had a North Star cherry that died after 2 years & I thought it might have been too wet, even though it was in an improved area (it also might have gotten Preen sprinkled near it). If I did use pots permanently, they would be some of those big things than trees come in and put in one spot to stay. Hungryfrozencanuck, thank you also. Those articles were interesting and fun (esp. liked the one about the catch frame). Watering is the downside to using pots -- our water rates have been zooming lately, not from shortage but to pay for upgrades in the sewage system in my city. My bill is triple what it was in 2010, and I am already keeping blueberries in pots. I am really excited about these cherries. I have a pot with nanking cherry too, it bloomed for the first time last year, and it is covered with blossoms now, so maybe this year some fruit if tonight's freeze doesn't kill them?

They have been the rage since Evans was rediscovered and since carmine jewel was developed. Hard to believe thats almost 15 years now! They are bred mainly for the mid prairie climate in central saskatchewan (in saskatoon). Anything surviving their trials should be hardy to zone 3 at least by what ive read. They are considered trouble free there because many if not most pests and diseases are non existent up there. I havnt found any other information about their resistances out of the prairies or more northern locations. I have read over and over how carefree they are. After going through more info, I am curious as to whether or not you could grow it as a multi stemmed tree rather then a "fruit bush".

I got my teeny CJ from Henry Fields, as a matter of fact! It was really clearance priced. It was incredibly healthy, just quite small. I do recommend them for the little starts of these as far as health of the little plant goes. They might have different sizes. I'm sure mine said it was in a 3 inch pot, so I knew what I was in for that way. If you do go with the little babies, just make sure to pay more attention to it than you might for a bigger plant. The roots aren't as forgiving since there aren't too many of them comparatively ;) I potted mine up in good soil and checked frequently for water needs. It was still really easy to grow the whole time. I've had zero problems.