I have not found my Lapins or Black Gold to be as sweet as a good store cherry. The Hedelfingen seemed a little better but I got too few fruits. This year my cherry trees are loaded so hopefully I will get a good taste test. They are not in full sun but get around six hours per day. I planted a Cox Orange Pippin in a shady spot before I knew what I was doing. It is finally going to fruit a little bit this year, in its 7th year. The tree does get strong sun for a couple hours in the morning. I have some other trees which get shaded in mid-summer (I didn't realize how high the sun got in the sky then) so they are not getting any direct sun at all for several months. I am getting doubtful they will ever fruit at all and I grafted those varieties onto trees in sunnier spots. The moral here seems to be you can get some fruit in less sun, but it depends a lot on exactly how much less. Scott

I have an emperor francis sweet cherry tree. It is the last of my sweet cherry trees left. The rest got destroyed by cherry leaf spot and root rot. Cherry trees are high maintenance because of the deer's preference for cherry, fungal diseases of the leaf and soil, japanese beetles, and the birds and squirrels at harvest. Cage it in with wire to stop the deer. Keep in mind that there are cherry plant patents in effect on many cherry varieties. Consider tart cherries they are a little easier for home gardeners to have a good crop.

Up in North Jersey. ;-) You should still be good with all sorts of things including what I listed. You can make a nice bed for the summer veggies in the sun and even try grapes. You can grow strawberries in sun or part sun. Also fruit trees like peaches, pears, apples, cherries, and plums. It all depends on how much work you want to go through to prepare for what you want to grow and also guard against the critters that might eat your harvest before you do (ie., deer, racoons, squirrels, skunk, ground hogs, rabbits, chipmunks, moles, voles, and even Canada geese - which I noticed seem to hang out in North Jersey 'burbs...lol). :-) This means you may want to consider fencing, netting, and other deterrants as part of your planning.

Hi Ano, I have some very small (American) persimmon seedlings. You are welcome to some; bear in mind that most persimmons require both a male and a female closeby for pollination and fruit production. So about 50% chance of that with 3 seedlings, sex unknown. However: the cultivar 'Meader' is unusual in that it is parthenocarpic -- it sets large fruit, with a few sterile seeds generally, *without* a pollinator. So that might be worth the additional time and expense to procure? Also note that many opinions exist as to the best-tasting American persimmon; I considered putting in a 'Prok' also but decided to use the space for Chinese mulberries instead. Another cheap possible source: state university nurseries generally raise and sell a variety of trees, once-a year, bareroot, in the late autumn. These sales are usually not well publicized. -- Stan in Hamilton, NJ 609.731.3882