I would guess it's the dreaded Brown Rot. Once that starts it moves rather quickly. I had it a few years ago and some of the experts here on GW pointed me to a product called Monterey Fungi Fighter. I was unable to locate that locally (in a very short time that I had to get it applied) so I found a product from Bonide called Infuse that had the same active ingredient. It worked just like they said it would! I want to say it was Harvestman or Fruitnut who had guided me on this one, but they had said you can even use it in a rescue operation. In other words, if you have spotted early signs of Brown Rot you can spray with MFF (or in my case Infuse) and it'll stop the BR and you'll have saved some of the crop anyway. It worked for me. Going forward from that experience, I was much more diligent in making sure I collected and discarded any of the "Mummies" (the shriveled up fruit with the nasty moldy looking spore things, etc) as well a keeping things really clean under the tree. And then being diligent in a spray schedule with regard to applying a Fungicide. Now when I harvest my cherries, one of the last things I do after picking for the day is to go around the underneath of the tree and pick up all the drops or bird pecked ones that I discard so that there's nothing under my tree except for grass. Even if I'm dog tired after a day of harvesting I find the energy to get the drops off the ground and thrown away. I think it really helps. Others may have a different take on your cherry problem, but if it is BR the products noted and keeping a clean area may help out going forward. This post was edited by iowajer on Mon, May 26, 14 at 9:08

I think the sun-starved fruit tends to drop early for lack of adequate energy. I didn't keep up with scab on pears- I actually didn't realize that it can be a season long battle when it's as wet as it was this year. My 2 Boscs are 60% defoliated and dropped pears early though some are still on tree as did Highland which lost most pears too early to be worth anytning. Seckels did the same, but at least they have decent sugar. Bartlett and another unknown Bartlett type, but later, have completely healthy foliage and great fruit. Aurora stayed healthy but fruits not sweet enough. Most of the Honeycrisp apples, where foliage was fine, dropped a bit before ideal ripeness, or would have if I didn't pick them. Jonagold is thinning itself more than I'd like. All other apples were or are fine. I don't care at all about sooty blotch and fly speck.

I do remember reading about that name change; it's tough to keep up with all the switches in nomenclature these days. I suspect more folks might grow these if they were more universally hardy, but I think I'm at about the northern edge of their range, and the big box stores aren't likely to carry them because of that. Besides, if they were more commonly available, I would probably lose interest. I used to be fascinated by Phalaenopsis orchids as a kid, but don't even give them a second look now that Trader Joe's carries them right next to the baked goods. BTW -I have a huge collection of Zephyranthes, Habranthus, and Cooperia which is now hopelessly muddled because of label-pulling in the back yard last summer (they mostly look the same until they bloom, and some even then). I thought it had been done with too much dexterity to blame the birds, and was just about to begin interrogating neighbor children, when I discovered the culprit (caught red handed, so to speak) was a raccoon! If I can manage to propagate the Hemiboea this summer (assuming it rears its head again - it's dormant right now), I'd be happy to send you one. Just help me remember to work on that later on this spring.

If you dump a bunch of fertilizer on a possibly diseased, heat/drought stressed lawn in the middle of Summer it may not do so well. I recently replaced a fescue lawn. St. Augustine & Bermuda were suggested. After weeks of attempts I could not source St. Augustine or bermuda sod. I ended up seeding bermuda (never do this if sod is available). This change has helped me regain my sanity. Bermuda is the right grass for our weather. It's 90 - 105 since I started & this grass don't care. It's been 6 wks now & I water 0.25" every 4 days - far less than the recommended 1" per week, and that's with crazy sun & heat. My grass is moist to the touch, never experienced anything like this with the fescue. The bermuda, I fertilize heavy every 2 weeks, it's a different grass and obviously loves the abuse. I just don't find myself worrying about my lawn like I did previously. The correct grass for the environment improved my QOL. My bermuda takes time to fertilize and mow to maintain a low profile, but it's still less than the time/mental energy I had with the fescue.