sweet cherries in the deep south

Are there any southerners out there that have had success with sweet cherries? They aren't supposed to do well in central Alabama but I want to try.

There are several cultivars that will grow into zone 8, if other conditions are right. The ancient Bing being one of them .

farmerdill,
Would you say that it is especially important to plant cherry trees in extra well drained soil?

yes! heavy clay or wet spots are to be avoided.

Thanks, Farmerdill! The state cooperative extension service says that sweet cherries "do not do well in Alabama". But I will try to prove "them" wrong. Bings are sold locally but I was afraid to try them.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ID=93 . Note that Bing like most sweet cherries requires a pollenizer ( a different cherry cultivar with the same bloom time). You would need to plant a second zone 8 type cherry. Stella comes to mind.

Farmerdill, will a gold sweet cherry pollinate a red if the bloom time coincides?

In nursery catalogs I often see a chart about which apples, cherries and peaches will pollinate others...is that mostly related to bloom time, or what? I have a shiro and a methley plum with overlapping bloom times but only the methley bore fruit last year. Of course i've only had the trees about 3 years so maybe they just need to mature. I have a lot of fruit trees that are 3-5 years old. When I moved here I started planting and haven't stopped. And with my Raintree gift certificate I got for Christmas, it looks like a busy spring ahead

It relates to both bloom time , amount of pollen produced, and compatibily. Those pollination charts are your best bet. Some cultivars are sold as being good pollinizers, Stark Gold and Black Tartarian for example..
Shiro can be tricky, I usually plant Superior as the pollinizer. Worked great in Virginia, but here in Georgia, the Shiro bloom out so early it suffersfrost kill most years. Superior is a little tougher, but one crop in 4 years seems to be the average.