I have Kristin, Lapins and Black Gold... I had -22f to -23F this year, and 2 other nites of -20F... with almost 50 days below 0f....if you can wait a few weeks, i can let you know how they handled that. Mine are to the north of the house, shaded all winter....they also have plenty of snow around them (the trunks)...all are on Gisela 5. They are about 6 years old now and have flowered consistently, but rot has been a huge issue in wet spring conditions (last year was horrible).

Oh i see what you did. Youre trying to make sure that they dont bloom to early. I guess youre on the cusp of them being hardy in your area? Ive read that most are hardy to zone 5, maybe about -25C or a bit lower. Id have to make sure mine are protected well here seeing as generally "they shouldnt grow here".

Im sure my protected areas wont get lower then -30C, even if the temp at the airport (which im far from) or the temp where im at is lower. My yard in the open is usually 5-10C warmer then the areas mentioned above. So as long as the cherries are rated around -30C i should be ok.

Definitely let me know how yours do. If yours survive those temps then those are a good place to try and see what I can do, at least grafting wise.

I've tried Kristin, Black and White Gold. They've really struggled. Lost the White gold, but I think that was other than winter kill, Black Gold grew to bloom, then winterkilled back. Kristin has been winterkilling, but both have come back above the graft. What I've noticed is that they seem to make the winter in good shape. Sometimes a little die back at the tips, but otherwise the stems look good, buds are moist and full, but then as spring progresses they just never leaf out and finally dry up and the stems dry down. My thoughts are that it is either the frosts in late March and April, or they suffered winter damage to the trunks that prevented the sap from flowing up to the branches and they eventually dried up, but buds near the graft were able to survive.

At some point I will probably try painting the trunks white to see if that helps.

Neighbor has a Black Tartarian which has survived all of this with no damage, but he rarely gets a bloom. The tree is in partial shade (probably more than 1/2 the day) and I kind of attribute lack of bloom to that although the flower buds could be winter killing. Will try to get a graft of it sometime to put on one of my trees and see what happens.

I think another way to ask this question is how hardy are sweet cherries compared to apricots or euro pears? I have seedlings of both and so far no die back to back a big deal about

I've had no problem with european pears. I've got Hudar and Nova from St. Lawrence and bosc and seckel. The last two are pretty new.

Apricots are a mixed bag. Sungold winterkilled about 2/3 of the way down a couple years ago, but had a couple fruits on the regrowth last year. Moongold has lost a branch or two, but it has produced fruit continuously on the remaining branches. Moorpark has not had any winterkill for me yet. I've got some other apricots from seed, no winterkill to the branches but one of them frequently loses its bloom. Another is a rootstock but has wonderful huge apricots and while it rarely suffers branch die back, it also doesn't often bloom.

My euro pear is a seedling of bosc, and other then its first year outside there has been zero die back, even with the relatively cold and very long winter last year. Was just using them as an example of a tree that is usually thought of as being a zone 4/5 tree...

I also know that apricots are really hit or miss in terms of hardiness. Just trying to think of a fruit tree with the same general hardiness as a comparison, so I can base what I can get away with using my own data on the above trees I have.

I will also say, that if I am not mistaken, Wy has a really indisicive climate like calgary (not as cold I think). Winters can stay above freezing for months only to have highs of -20 C for weeks before the next warm up. This would probably explain the lack of buds.

Here the winters are relatively steady temp wise. Once things go dormant there is usually no real warm up to worry about until this time of year into april, with the real warm up starting in may, just when they should wake up

I LIVE IN CENTRAL MN. AND HAVE HAD SOME LUCK WITH SWEET CHERRIES,BUT HARDINESS SEEMS VARIABLE.I HAD A STELLA IN THE PAST AND IT LASTED ABOUT 15 YRS. LPLANTED A RAINER 3.5 YRS. AGO AND IT HAS SURVIVED NO DAMAMGE, PLANTED AKRISTEN AT THE SAME TIMEAND IT LIKES TO DIE BACK TO THE SBOW LINE,PLANTED A LAPINS YR, BEFORE LAST AND SURVIVED THE WINTER UNDAMAGED.I PLANTED A GOLD A FEW YRS,AGO, BUT THE BARK SPLIT AND IT DIED IN A COUPLE OF YRS. I SHOULD HAVE PROTECTED THE TRUNK WITH A WHITE TREE GUARD,IT SEEMS TO HELP.

My kristin, white gold and lapins all died this winter. However i do think it was due to the fact that i was planting them pretty much in snow last fall. It was november 6 and snowing. Grandpas orchard made a mistake and sent them in the fall instead of a spring so i had no choice but to put them in... Bummer

Then you should get them replaced!
Zone 4 and colder should be planted in the spring,..most plants!
I know, some cold climate nurseries are pushing plants for fall,
not sure why people want to put them in, they just sit, don't grow, some die and get eaten from voles and rabbits!

Just wanted to report both my Kristin and Black Gold appear to have winter killed to just above the ground. They are putting out leaves down low now. My Moorpark apricots also appear to have killed back. Suingold and Moongold apricots had light bloom and are about done blooming now. Superior and Toka plums are in full bloom with lots bloom, Apple's and pears about to start. Things are a bit late this year. Had 28 the other night, about -28 the coldest during the winter.

Konrad,
I sent an email to grandpas orchard last night. The agreement last fall (once I discovered they shipped my cherry trees in november) was that if the trees die they would replace them. I hope they honor it. Although considering that their current cherry stock is bare now I am asking for full refund. I just do not want to sit and wait until next spring to plant my cherry trees. I would rather order from different place but this spring.

Beeone.. that is too bad. So how do you guys recognize winterkill? Is it just tat trees do not flower? I am not a pro so I had my dad to check out my cherry trees. He said all the buds are dry and black and crumble in his fingers, so they trees are definetly dead. He is confident.
However I keep reading about 'winterkill' on this forum and how some of you guys have trees coming back afterwords from low buds right above the graft. So is it possible then the tree is possibly coming back ? If so - how soon would I see any growth? I am running against the clock. If I do not claim replacement by June 1 I get none.

Lapins, Kristin, and Black Gold all made it. Everything has leafed out just fine, but zero flowers...nothing...nada. They seem to handle -22F or -23F a few times, but not the flowers. Mine are about 6 years old on Gisela 5.

I'm leaning towards removing them, but then again, this is the first winter they have lost all flower buds. I think i'll bud them over to other trees in case i do remove them at a future time.

I'm tempted to decorate mine with Christmas lights next winter just to give them a little heat on very cold nites???

Always something has a tough year. I try to grow a variety of things so some always produce something.

I recognize probable winter kill as your dad described it. Small branches will often shrivel some and leave the bark wrinkled. Plus the bark will lose a greenish undertone and take on a darker, more brown or grey appearance. You just have to see how far down the trunk it goes towards the graft. Frequently new growth will come out near the graft.

In your case with the guaranty, if you don't see definite signs of growth in the next week, I would ask for replacement or refund. If the trees do push some growth later, they will be weak and you'll lose at least a year's growth compared to a tree that didn't suffer this setback. Good luck.