Fruitnut, Being in Vista, California (N. San Diego county 6 miles from the ocean) makes it nearly impossible to grow cherries until two new cultivars were introduced for us here in coastal S. California - Minne Royal and Royal Lee, developed by Zaiger. They have very low chill hours and don't require the heat to sweeten, especially Royal Lee. They are pollinators for each other. I just purchased one of each, and will see how they do for me. I have spoken to several folks, all in CRFG and these two varieties are performing very well to outstanding, even for folks right at the beach. Minnie Royal ripens first, then Royal Lee. So, maybe these two cultivars will work for you? I would contact DWN and see. They can tell you for sure if this might be worth purchasing. Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: Blog About Royal Lee And Minnie Royal Cherries in S. Calif Coast

Hi, I planted two cherry trees here in Massachusetts. This is the second season. They were large tree to start maybe 6ft. I have a problem with winter moth. The worms can shred a tree overnight. I had brown spots on some cherries last year too. It is common when the weather is wet and humid. I recently read somewhere that its almost not worth planting cherries in the northeast. I have included a link that I found that describes some cherry diseases. Here is a link that might be useful: Cherry Tree Diseases

Yes, both are delicious if properly grown. As far as messy, I'd say it falls in the minor to very minor category, especially for a dwarf or semi-dwarf tree. The biggest issues in terms of the mess will be if you don't cover them and birds get into them, or you have a bad spell of really wet, cool to warm, and humid weather and you don't spray and get an outbreak of brown rot. In those cases, you will end up with a lot of rotting fruit on the ground, but still not up the level of mess made by, say, a mulberry or many types of ornamental crabapples.

Fruitnut: Thanks for sharing. I realize what the commercial concerns are (likely why labeled precocious anyway, advising commercial farmers about over-set and bland fruit). But back to my original question: Would you have considered that precocious and secondly would it have a tendency to reduce the vegetative growth next year in a container? As far as flavor, so far ALL the cherry trees are too young to judge and I harvested them too early (except for the above Stella). Therefore, they all taste about the same: just like store bought cherries (juicy, some flavor, nothing great). The Stella above may be 3 years old but has only 1 real year of growth b/c it was severely root-bound when purchased @ clearance and b/c of my care that nearly killed it. Last year it set only 2 fruits and the birds got it before I could. I don't have a Van yet, but will by next season. I've been evaluating the rootstocks and how they do (under my care) in containers before buying any more cherries. The only one that might go in-ground would be a Royal Raineer b/c I love it so much (even store bought ones) but I've yet to do that. I'll remove several dozen container citrus over the next couple years to free up space. I've got 50 citrus so far as short-term trees to enjoy growing them and pick favorite fruits, then graft onto in-ground trees. I REALLY need advice on pruning these cherries. Some of these 2yr container cherries are getting mighty long branches, yet little overall foliage. I would've tip-pruned them to stimulate sub-branching but it's only this season that I'm sure they are healthy and trust my experience caring for them. Too much re-potting, testing containers & mixes last year that I wanted to just leave them be for an entire season once healthy. I'll have to share some pics and ask for suggestions on another post. It's been fun reading your recent posts.