Carla of Sacremento, I despise your states capitol. An endless sprawl of franchise stores- you can barely find a restaurant or business of any kind that actually represents any individual creativity. The archetecture of the last 40 years is the ugliest most depressing cancer existing on the the face of this planet- from your ticky tack homes to your businesses. As far as the weather, how can any true gardener stand a climate that provides no moisture during the growing season and seems to be in almost perpetual drought. Most of the time the landscapes look like the plants are being tortured for lack of water. And Sacramento weather isn't even very warm in the winter- very exposed to winds so when it's freezing it feels like zero. I was raised near Malibu CA and am happy to be in the muggy northeast, where spring is an explosion of life and the flora thrive in an emerald paradise and the senses get to expereince true seasons. Do not pitty the rest of us. (actually I love CA- at least the not man-made part, and my northeast as well, but gloating gets my gander up)

Frank: What cherry are you growing that is coloring already? I have grown North Star for many years. Not colored yet but soon. As far as netting, at the first sign of pink I spray one application of Malathion (short residual) in the hope of controlling cherry fruit fly. Then I net the tree. No spraying after netting even if I do get powdery mildew sometimes. As far as netting, I use a post pounder and put in 4-8' stakes suitable for staking up a tomato plant in each corner around the tree. Since these are too short, I attach another 4' stake that is perhaps 1/2" diameter to the top of the post with a large automotive hose clamp. ON top of the smaller stake, I put on an upside down gallon milk jug. This is to prevent the stake from tearing the netting. Then I slide the top stake thru the loose hose clamp as high as I need to go and tighten the clamp. This system makes it easy to adjust for height as the tree gets taller. The netting is a large plastic netting thaI I stretch out behind the tree. We use two garden rakes to lift the netting and carefully get it over the tree (short stepladder on each side of the tree is helpful). This is not easy unless you have the whole family out then everyone pitches in. Once the net is over the tree, I staple the netting on the top sides of the 4 stakes. The bottom 1/2 is not stapled but drapes down. The netting touches the ground so I put a long wood stake horizontal along the ground to hold each side down in the wind and prevent birds from going underneath. This system allows me to lift up the netting on the sides and put my 6' stepladder inside to pick the fruit. Usually I make several pickings as the fruit in the center of tree ripens last. Fortunately my North Star is pruned to 8' height as too tall makes it hard to net. Last year I got 28 quarts of cherries (after pitting)! This year the crop is lighter but still a crop. Since my apples/pears/plums frosted out this year, at least I have some cherries to pick once ripe. Out of 3 tart cherry trees, this one made it thru the spring frosts due to location. Yes it is work, but if I don't net at the first sign of pink on the fruit, the birds will clean me out in just a few days.

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.

Cleocrafta - free protein! LOL Sorry, just being a smarty-pants, don't know what you could do to prevent the worm. (I think your theory about the egg being laid in the blossom is correct.) Guess you just avoid the brown-streaked fruits; hope they are not many. If the green fruit is toxic, it is not so to squirrels & chipmunks or I'd have no more of those pests in my yard. (Of course, that is true of many plants & fungi we humans cannot eat.) They are getting ALL of them from the various beds I had tried to hide them in! Someone a couple of years ago wrote that "the Seed packet says germination in 28-35 days at 77-85 degrees" and that the plants were determinate. Usually I just allow the plants that have self-sowed pop up in the garden but this year I wanted to try some new varieties so started them under lights as I do my other veggie plants and they certainly did not take anywhere near as long as mentioned above. Certainly no longer than peppers (which always come up quicker than packet info says). I do use bottom heat for germinating nightshade family seeds. As far as determinate... Uh, no. Like the Eveready bunny they just keep going and going and going.... All but one of the ground cherry plants I have had over the years grow no more than about 12"-18" tall, but sprawl out in all directions (and do not root along the stems as tomatoes do - probably a good thing!). But this year I had one appear in my raspberry bed that has gotten nearly 3 feet tall. I think it used the canes for support as both plants grew. Of course, the squirrels found that one, too... (but seem not to be eating the raspberries, thankfully.)