Perfectly edible. Fabulous for jelly and other preserves. Cyanide based compounds are a source of bitterness in stone fruits, but probably not the only possible source. Even at that, I'm sure you would have to eat a very large quantity, probably several pounds, at one time to get sick from the flesh of stone fruits. And, at that, your body would probably not absorb all that much cyanide, and would probably flush the bulk of it out of your system in a rather unpleasant manner due to the excess consumption of insoluble and soluble fiber. I wouldn't worry about it one bit. Cooking breaks it down, anyway, so if it does worry you, just don't eat a lot of them raw. Make pies or jelly or whatever. That is my uninformed opinion on the matter. Take it for what it's worth.

Maybe it's not dry at the root but actually infested with bacterial canker or another blight. Up here this plant is quite prone to dying back after flowering each year, except where situated with some protection as against a building. Down there, in your hot climate this may not be seen much - I don't know. Poke around and check soil moisture, if it really is drying out you need to change the situation in some way. Is it mulched? Here is a link that might be useful: Planting Fact Sheet

So these cuts on either side of the node are made lengthwise for roots to be able to come out, correct? How deep should these cuts be made? Just cut down into the cambium layer - 1mm It also looks like you didn't remove the blossoms, is that okay? I thought removing the blossoms helps the cutting take root as most of its energy will go into rooting. Is that the case? Maybe it is different with the purple leaf sand cherry though. No, you're right, in fact I should go do that now - I left a few in the hustle of getting this all done quickly. Also, your cuttings appear to be about 5-6 inches tall when ready to be placed in the rooting medium. Is that correct? yup Would I be safe using sphagnum moss as well? I can purchase either perlite or sphagnum moss, just wondering which to get. Perlite will come in handy with potting soil as well though, so I may go with perlite, like you did. I find that its a whole lot easier to control the moisture level in perlite - as long as there is some sort of lid on it, it stays damp for weeks, wicks up moisture from the bottom as needed, but doesn't turn into a soggy mess. Lets air get down to the roots as well. I just find that much harder to manage with the moss and my cuttings rot far more easily. If I use a clear plastic bag, would that work too? I guess the downside of a plastic bag is that I'd need to have some fixture inside that keeps it from touching the leaves though. Sure, just put in some sticks to hold the bag up. Also, do you think I should get a different rooting hormone, or is my STIM-ROOT No. 1 rooting hormone (a pink powder) good enough? I'm sure that what you have is fine - its all the same active ingredient. Another few comments - if the leaves fall off, discard and start over. - when you start to see new top growth, thats a sign that things are going well. That should be at 4 to 6 weeks. - When you see that, its time to start taking off the plastic cover. Be careful - the environment is so humid under the plastic that the leaves adapt. If your ambient, room humidity is much drier, then when they're exposed, they'll wilt in a few hours. Needs a bit of TLC - remove for an hour, replace, next day two hours, etc. You may not need to worry about this, but I live in a desert, so its a major concern..... I live on the corner of two busy roads, so I've planted a sound/visual barrier with pine and ash trees, and under those, I have lots of shrubs, including a dozen or so sand cherry growing in the partial shade. I'd love to have more of them, but at this point, when I plant small things out, the trees pretty much steal all the sun, water, and nutrients.....

agree with above.... except for broken or damaged material .... i let trees and shrubs get established for a year or 3 .. before i start forcing my aesthetic on the plants ... every leaf is a food making machine.. so leave them attached to the plant.. for a year or two.. to feed the plant.. to grow the roots.. to get established ... imo fert is not a substitute .... in tree time ... shrub time.. whats your hurry??? ken