You're fine,...especially with a sour cherry.

Konrad

I have a Montmorency heavily shaded to its west, and lightly shaded to its south, and it bears a bumper crop each year. I'm zone 6a most years, 5b some years, so similar to you.
Jocelyn

I have one on the corner of my shed and it doesn't get sun until 1pm, and then has it until about 5pm. It is doing quite well. I don't know if the rootstock matters, but mine is on Gisela 5.

Mine is too close to my house not getting full sun until about 9:30am. It has disease issues from not getting the morning dew dried off.

I've never had any disease issues with a young mont. in any location and I'm less than an hour up from NYC, so probably nearby the site discussed here. Apparent correlations are not always factual and one anecdotal observation is far from conclusive. I know you realize this Mykl.

Cherries, even sweet ones, are generally considered amongst best performers in shady locations- partially because fruit ripens when the sun is relatively high.

In near total shade I do seem to get more canker on sweets but I don't think morning dew is necessarily the problem. Could be, though.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I really appreciate it. I'll plant it this evening once it cools down.

Harvestman, you must be right around the corner from me. I'm in White Plains.

Thanks again.

Rob

"Apparent correlations are not always factual and one anecdotal observation is far from conclusive. I know you realize this Mykl."

Yes, I imagine a house blocks a breeze more than trees do. You all may not be as humid in the summers as here too.
Whatever it is it all adds up to no good for my tree. I think once it gets full grown it will be tall enough to get dried off earlier.

Harvestman:

Morning shade that delays drying of dew promotes cherry leaf spot, and it can become severe. Maybe you don't have it up in NY, but we have it here, and that's one of the reasons I plant my tart cherries in full sun. I can't grow decent sweet cherries and have given up. Too many issues to deal with.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I was glad to read this string, because I was sent a Lapins cherry tree by mistake and that the nursery told me to keep. I didn't have any spot left in full sun, so yesterday I squeezed it into a spot with afternoon shade. Reading these comments gives me hope. I have another Lapins which blossomed very lightly for the first time this spring and at which I keep peering every day to see if any cherries are forming. I think they may be, but I might just be seeing what I want to see. Northwoodswis

Well, I have to admit that I don't have a ton of experience growing cherries in the shade but I have a very shady part of my nursery where I planted some sweet cherries years ago. The spot gets almost no direct sunlight and has a huge sugar maple over it. The trees were prone to canker but one that I never sold is still reasonably healthy although the shade and my inattention has produced a tree too ugly to sell.

I do manage a couple of montmorency that get total morning shade that are completely healthy.

I don't look forward to the day when the earth heats up enough that we have Don's weather here. We seem to be just north enough to still be able to grow anything that grows down there but with far fewer pest problems.

Weisman, I live in the county up from you, Putnam. Most of my customers are in the tony parts of Westchester and CT.

Powdery Mildew is my constant problem but last year it was leaf spot that ended up with the tree totally barren of leaves way early. I didn't know if it was going to make it, but it did.

This year seems to be shaping up to be drier, plus I shop-vac'ed all the diseased leaves last year and got a spray of Immunox on it early.