Not good. Looks like bacterial canker. If still willing, start over with disease-free trees next year. Then keep up with appropriate dormant sprays.

Thanks jean. I'll look that up, suspected it was bad. Never once had to spray my others. I know nothing about spraying fruit trees. I'll read up on it.

A little chronology because I may have made this confusing.

2 North Star I planted myself sometimes in the 70's, died within about a year of each other about 5 years or so ago now.

2 Montmorency planted twice last spring, first ones didn't handle the late deep freeze well. Those are the ones in my photos with the problem.

2 North Star planted yesterday.

I took the one poster's word for the bacterial canker. Two new ones planted for me yesterday by the same nursery I bought my 2 North Star over 30 years ago. I went back to NS which served me well, wish I hadn't seen that thread about Evans, my NS never fruited like that but had way more than enough every year.

Now with the Japanese Beetles which weren't a problem with the old ones because we've only had them about 4 years, I don't know if the fruit will be affected, NS usually was ready about the 4th of July and stayed ripe for a long time so I could still pick and use because sometimes it's pretty hot when they fruited IIRC. The Montmorency fruited earlier, had a few earlier in the summer, didn't taste that great to me. The only problem I ever had with NS fruit was an occasional damaged one or sometimes a wormy one, not many of those, never sprayed them with anything and birds never seemed to take too many. The NS were pretty sour and acidy, but I always diluted the juice with a little extra water, used enough sugar, and everybody loved them.

But the guys dug out my old trees, a little hard to communicate with them, and put them back in the pots my new trees came in and watered them well, I said please take them to the nursery and get rid of them, it's a problem for me with the city. The one did understand I bought them at a different place I think. Why would he water them like that, to try to save them or plant them for himself do you think or heaven forbid sell them? The leaves still looked very healthy.

Now what is a dormant spray and when and what do I use, please? I was never into spraying any of my fruit trees before.

Oh one more thing to get me off to a good start with the new ones (I staked today with fence posts and tied w/landscape tape so they'd grow straight and pulled the mulch out donut-style). I posted photos way back when of my new Montmorency entire trees, and one poster remarked that the branches weren't growing at 45 degrees. They were pretty squat and bushy. These new ones are entirely different, very tall, thin trunks with some growth on top. What can I expect with that? Will they fill out nice and put out new branches from the trunk? My other NS didn't have as tall of trunks as these new ones and grew into a pleasing shape and size with no pruning whatsoever.

Man sounds like tart cherries are tough to grow. Is that the case? I planted 2 in spring and one is sick.

Maybe mulberry is a better choice if cherries are not hardy.

No, they're easier than almost anything to grow if you buy good nursery stock that hasn't been damaged and keep it from getting damaged. If I can do it, anybody can, didn't know the first thing about it, but mixed in some fertilizer and planted them carefully (for me), and watered faithfully the first year, then never had to water again. I am getting up in years and was advised not to plant any more, if they don't succumb to something, likely to outlive me, sobering, don't know why the heck not, even if I don't use all the cherries or can/freeze them, people stop and ask for some and I don't care if the birds get them all. Those trees gave us many happy memories for me and my kids. Had a neighbor who used to come and love to pick them for half and pit them for me, grew up on a farm, gave him something to look forward to. So few want to clutter up their fancy yards with things like that now. I don't know why; they aren't messy and are pretty when they blossom and fruit. Just my 2 cents.

NS is extremely hardy, was specially developed in Minnesota. For newly planted trees, that deep freeze killed a lot of things, saved most of my plants through that, very unusual that year B4 last.

Mulberries don't compare to cherries imo. Never had a mulberry pie. I do happen to like them a lot, just pick off the tree and gobble as many down as I can reach, they grow wild here, but cherries are much more versatile to bake with, probably can better, too, I wasn't good at making jelly or jam. I'd grow black raspberries which I'm crazy for (JB's like them, too), but it isn't practical in my smallish yard, could squeeze some in somewhere if I wanted to fight with the canes. They grow wild here, too, if you can find some that got enough sun and water. The red are good, too, most people prefer them.

But environmental conditions have changed drastically in the 30 plus years since I started my first ones, temps are not quite as extreme as they were then here generally plus new insects and blights, etc., have moved in. The Japanese Beetles got loose on the mulberries in the park, and it was awful, horrible, chains of the icky things I was told. At least I was able to keep them off those trees I replaced and they only ate the youngest leaves, that damage wouldn't have killed them unless they completely defoliated them which could happen.

I think I just had a bit of bad luck, bought them impulsively at a big box store, they were cheap, and I was so determined once I made up my mind to haul and plant them (not so easy for me now), I didn't check them over very well, not much to choose from that night in the dark. I didn't want to spend the money it now costs at the good nurseries. Now it has ended up costing me a lot more but I feel good about it for now.

I decided it's best but may not always be true, to buy your better plants from a good nursery in your area. It doesn't always pay to buy cheap or mail order (which I do a lot of now). I've had good luck with little stuff at big box stores, but I think a lot of inferior stock may get palmed off on them and then sold to unwary customers especially impulsive ones like me, but you can get lucky, too; it's a crap shoot. Lowe's had some NS that looked pretty good after I bought those Montmorency and planted them, what do I know? They were too heavy for me to deal with, too large, too big a hole to dig, make that two holes, I always like two for cross pollination but they say it really isn't necessary.

All you need to do is have a reasonably sunny spot, 6 hours or so, average soil (mine's clay after the first 10 or so inches), plant them right, and water well the first year. The worst that happened to one of mine was my son years ago got goofy with his land cruiser in the yard and clipped the one really bad, injured it, surprised it lasted as long as it did, I was so mad at him. Plus not being careful with the lawn mower, a nick in them opens them up to the above canker or other malady. I think it was gall or a virus that got the one finally, looked out the window late one summer, and it had turned completely brown; the other I was never sure what happened with it. But 30+ years is pretty darn good for dwarf trees like that. Standards aren't worth the hassle imo.

By all means if you want cherries and have room for them, I certainly encourage you to try them. Try to find a good fit for what will work best for you in your zone, not neccessarily what is the most talked about here.

Sorry I rambled on so about it, must be a nuisance to plow through my posts for some.

Bacterial canker comes from a wild source. Birds disperse wild cherry trees that grow through chain link fences and under other trees. Canker harbors in these weak wild prunus trees and spreads into the orchard. Eliminate the wild sources. Replant trees in full sun location. Do not allow trees to be stressed for water etc. Apply copper 2x in dormant season(when trees cannot fight back).

It was said: "Bacterial canker comes from a wild source."

Well, that's not necessarily true in my region. Here, the disease is rampant on cultivated cherries, both flowering and fruiting.

It would be impossible to eradicate diseased trees, either here or where you live.

jean, i should have said Bacterial canker comes from an uncontrolled source. I had pruned out black knot out of wild cherries that grow on the edge of my property under tall Red Oaks and pine forest. Last season I got canker on my Early Golden apricot and the extension site recommends cutting out wild infected prunus trees. So 40 wild cherries and 2 wild apples were cut to the ground and the stumps that sucker get roundup. In Portland the winters are moist and mild, bacteria spread rapidly through the dormant healthy orchards. Our winters here may be more severe, so with the infected trees gone I am probably rid of bacterial canker.

I have a small orchard, and have had bad luck as well in controlling disease on my tart cherry trees. I would almost lay money that the stock was infected when I planted it, as that is the ONLY problem I have had with fruit production. I've planted three of them in succession. One didn't survive the first winter, one other has been in decline since planting, and the third isn't what I would call thrifty.

I have been googling to see if there hasn't been an eruption of problems in the nursery industry concerning cherry trees, and haven't found anything specifically dealing with canker, but my personal observations seem to indicate that it's there.