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Florida Gardening

Viability of wild black cherry tree in zone 9

15 years ago

O.K. We are trying to plant for wildlife instead of using commercial seeds and the like. We need a small fruit tree, of less than 20 feet. Many bird sites recommend wild black cherry but they all seem to grow only as far south as zone 6.

Can anyone suggest small fruit trees (non-citrus) that will provide wild food for our feathered friends. Nuts and seeds are taken care of with the neighbors pecan tree and wild millet, safflower and nyer that we allow to grow.

Suggestions would be appreciated. As a kid in south Florida we used to have mulberry trees but I'm not sure if they would grow up hear.

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Comments (7)

countrynest
15 years ago
Mulberry can be grown here. Birds in my garden enjoy figs,grapes,peaches,plums,nectarine,strawberry guava. They do not seem to bother the persimmons both wild and Japanese
nor my cooking pears.
Felix
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
15 years ago
I found that mulberries are what the birds like to eat the most out of my fruit trees. I had the everbearing type which means that it has a couple of crops per year.

Loquats are also a favorite. If you want cherry types, consider Cherry of the Rio Grande (hardy to Gainsville), and Surinam Cherry. Hope that helps.

Christine
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I have yet to harvest a cherry from any of my trees or bushes. The lapins actually had three or four cherries high up this year, but the birds got them. The evans had some cherries forming, too, but the birds must have gotten them long before they ripened. I guess I will have to net the evans. The lapins is much too tall to net if it ever produces a crop. The carmen jewels have never produced anything yet. The meteor looked like it was getting cherries one year, but when they got about 1/4" in diameter, they disappeared. I wondered if they weren't pollinated properly. They are all in full sun on a sandy ridge. Maybe I need to water them more. My apples, strawberries, pears, and blueberries are doing well, though. Haskaps have had only a handful of berries. Apricots still too young. My many varieties of plums have been a disappointment so far. With enough variety, you are bound to get a harvest on something, I figure. Northwoodswis
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Hey, JQ -- I'm 76 years old and there's a living black cherry tree still standing in the back yard of the house I grew up in. That tree was at least five or six feet tall when i was 10 years old, so from germination it has to be AT LEAST 70 years old. And if you will do a little research, you will see that 70 is not all that old for a black cherry. That particular tree is diseased now, due to severe damage suffered during a windstorm several (10? 15?) years ago, but it is far from dead. And until the damage occurred, it was still very healthy. My location is north central Mississippi, where timber and logging are huge industries. I can assure you that black cherry trees reaching 50 to 80 feet tall -- and FAR, FAR in excess of 10 years old -- are extremely common in this area. Maybe you are confusing the ornamental cherry (average lifespan 15-20 years) or the chokecherry (average lifespan 40 years) with the wild black cherry.
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countrynest
15 years ago
Christine,I just read that Cherry of the Rio Grande can tolerate temperatures as low as 20 f.
That is great. I never consider it. Thank you. Now I want one!
Felix
zoozue
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Felix and Christine. Great suggestions once again.
happy_fl_gardener; 9a, near DeLand
15 years ago
Felix--if you can't find a Cherry of the Rio Grande this year check out Hopkins Nursery vending site at the annual Leu Gardens plant sale in March if you live close enough to Orlando. Hopkins doesn't sell retail anymore so you have to get it at a plant show or a nursery that sells their plants. They are the only one that I know of that sells them.

Christine
solstice98
15 years ago
Kerby's in Sefner (just east of Tampa) has Cherry of the Rio Grande. It's a beautiful little tree and bears fruit the first or second year. I got mine on a recommendation from Lisa (the Fruit Tree Goddess) and I've been delighted with it. I have to admit though that I've only gotten a handful of cherries off of it because the birds beat me to it!

Kate
Tom
15 years ago
The wild Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) grows very well in zone 9. I have one that is about 30 ft tall at the moment. According to sources I read it will grow up to 60 ft.

It is an excellent tree for wildlife. Many birds enjoy the fruit and about five different types of butterflies use it for larval food. It grows all over the place in Central Florida.

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