Didn't want Chills excellent logic to get lost in the drain cycle here. If you get a self-fruitful sweet cherry, you can't lose. It's like type O Blood. A universal donor. It will pollenize whatever you've got planted and itself, too, provided that the bloom times generally overlap. For the east coast, where sweet cherries are challenging anyway because of the summer humidity which causes cracking and other disease issues, there has been the suggestion that Lapins is a good choice (I'm in the high desert, so I'm only repeating what others have said.) For the record, on those occasions when Jellyman has childed me for something or other, my reaction is to feel kind of honored. Few are more knowledgable--not to mention, generous with their expertise--than Don and I am grateful for his participation here, curmudgeonliness (sp?) and all. Don

Moril: Neither Rainier nor Bing will work well in your area. Any cherry tree you would receive in a "trade" would likely be suspect. It could be a Rainier seedling, which you definitely would not want. If you want to try to grow a sweet cherry tree in Kansas, and none of them would be easy, you need to investigate the softer new varieties like Lapins and Black Gold. There are now quite a number of newer varieties that might work, but you need to study up on the situation before you buy, and when you do, buy from a reputable nursery that will supply you with a grafted tree of known quality. The larger, crisp, west coast varieties are not good choices where you live, or where I live either. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thanks Don for sharing your insight and experience with me. I am prepared to prune like it is going out of style. My back yard is not very challenging to me right now with not much to do in it vegetatively. Even my garden I expanded this year had been very maintenance-free. I think I only pulled half a dozen weeds out since April. I've worked on creating a compact garden and a berry bed in the inside-side of the fence. My back yard is small and only extends about 24' back from the corner of the house. I fenced most of it in. I left some space on the outside of the east side where these trees are going. The soil is especially murderous on that side of the yard. I suspect when this house was constructed a little less than 3 years ago that the access road for the neighborhood construction was through that area. I notice contractor people here like to spread heaps of plentiful limestone rocks around construction sites for their machinery/keep mud down. It gets compacted and pressed down with that heavy equipment as houses are built. Then after a house is built it appears topsoil is added on top for sod, but it is never spread evenly. This explains why the west side of the yard is much easier to put shovel in than the east side. All my neighbors complain about their yards being the same way. Here's an example of what happened to all the rocks dug up in my back yard: I dug the final hole for that Mcintosh this evening and the soil was considerably easier to dig in. I had watered the spot where I wanted the tree a couple times this week and notice before doing that.. that the grass was more lush there. I can visually see where I will have a chore digging and where it will be relatively easy with not nearly as much shovel aerobics to pry out boulders and stones 'glued' into the ground. I hope these trees, as close as they are grow like wildfire because I want more privacy in my little yard. Notice in my picture the houses at the top of the picture... There's always people staring down at my wife and I from those balconies/roadway. We'd much rather they stare at fruit trees. I hope they grow 20' tall. ;) I will be sure to let you know how my Mcintosh grows (or dies). Last winter it was always colder on that side of the house. The path between the houses adjacent to mine act as a wind shaft to convect cold air along that area. Maybe that will be beneficial to the Mcintosh. Time will tell I guess. I will plant the Mcintosh probably tomorrow. I want to mix in some of that fertilized tree/shrub mix with our limely clay soil as I had for the two other trees. I could cram one more tree along the fence, but I have a white pine in the inside that should complete the blocked view (someday). I say I don't mind pruning now, but I may be saying different in 3-5 years eh? :)

Generally 2 trees only need to be within 50 feet (15 meters) of each other to cross pollinate. Pollination does usually require insects (most commonly bees), but can also be done by hand. Even if you do not commonly see bees in your yard, it is usually nothing to worry about. The bees will appear when the tree is covered in blossoms. In many parts of the country people only need to plant one apple tree in their yard, because there are usually a few other apple trees (or crabapples) growing somewhere in the neighborhood and the local bees are likely to be carrying pollen. The only reason I could see to ever want to plant the trees closer together is if they are very young trees with only a handful of blossoms that are unlikely to attract many bees. But in that case why not just pollinate by hand? The quality of the fruit is entirely dependent on the tree it is growing on; the variety that was used to pollinize it does not affect the fruit, though it does take a pollinizer for fruit to be able to form in the first place. Sweet cherries have a different number of chromosomes from sour cherries, and a cross between the two results in a triploid hybrid. Such a hybrid can still produce fruit, but the seeds are sterile. Sweet cherries have 16 chromosomes, while sour cherries have 32. Somewhat interestingly, wild Japanese cherry blossom trees have the same number of chromosomes as sweet cherries, while wild cherry varieties native to America (these include Black Cherry and Capulin) have the same number as sour cherries. This has implications for cross-breeding potential. Many cultivated cherry blossom varieties, including most in the serrulata group, are sterile triploid hybrids (with 24 chromosomes), and can only be propagated from cuttings.