Raider Rick, look under the curled leaves for little black dots. They are a kind of aphid that loves sweet cherries. You will need to get them off somehow since they significantly stunt the growth of the tree. They are hard to spray because they are so embedded in the curled leaf; it also makes it hard for ladybugs and the like to get them. If your tree is small you can hand blast them off with a hose or a sprayer filled with soapy water. And, keep coming back to look for them, all it takes is a couple survivors and in a month you will have a huge colony of them again. I have found these guys a big pain on my sweet cherries. Last Earth, I gave my opinion on Bing on your other thread where you asked about getting a Bing, so you know what I think there already :-) Scott

Just yesterday I was looking up information that crossed that subject, but because it wasn't what I was looking for I didn't pay close enough attention. But my subject line was "apricot rootstocks" on Google. I seem to remember reading that there were delayed compatibility issues with tomentosa under sweet cherry, but I am not sure. I probably would try it myself just to find out. I have an Italian prune grafted to tomentosa and it is doing well in its third year, but is very, very dwarfed. It remains to be seen how long it will hold up. Good luck, Mark

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.

Hi JJ61, I'm going to try Wilshire Ripple and Chatsworth both from Thompson & Morgan. My daughter and I do seeds in the basement most years. This year's list includes Thunbergia 'Blushing Susie'; Tagetes 'Starfire' (an old favorite); and various other annuals just for fun. Despite the variability of the NJ climate, it is still an amazing improvement over Chicago (zone 5). It was so cold and harsh where I lived that I couldn't even get weeds to grow reliably. In a garden with 100+ varieties of flowers planted, I had almost no self-seeding going on at all. The plants that I brought with me from Chicago have grown more in two years in NJ than in 5 years in IL.