Anybody have any experience with bush cherries? How do they taste and do they produce well?
Bush cherries
Is that an annual or something for the orchard?
They're a bush that produces cherries. Not an annual. But I have a hard time imagining a 3' high orchard. LOL
I have had them for years. They produce good. But you need alot of bushes to make anything. I have 3 bushes and can make some jam and a pie out of them. The birds get there share also. In fact the birds get most of them as I find them a pain to pit! Just my opinion.
An orchard for the vertically challenged? LOL
ves522... Are the fruits as big as regular cherries? Could you tell me more about your bushes... how big are they now? do you know what variety they are?
Thanks... Jay =0)
Jay the fruits are lots smaller so I don't think a pitter would work on them. If someone knows different please let us know. They were here when we moved in.So not sure on which one they are. But I think there are 2 different kinds as there are 2 different colored cherries. Taste is good. But I have never had pie cherries so can't compare taste.
I had DH move them quite awhile ago and they are still recooping from that. He is not the most careful doing things like that. Now they did get up to about 8 feet. Use to get little starts from the cherries dropping and gave away lots of little starts.
As they are usually fairly inexpensive it wouldn't hurt to try them especially if you have room to experiment and right now I don't remember how much room you have!
I was just trying to remember when I picked them. End of June mid July sometime. So a nice early fruit.
Branches can be brittle. Handle the winters here very good.
Will try to get pictures this summer if you are interested.
Thanks! Good to know they have a good flavor. =0) As for size, well, we fuss with chokecherries, which make a to-die for jelly, so I 'spect we can deal with small fruit. My neighbors have some regular pie cherries and they're actually pretty small, not like the supermarket cherries. They don't do anything for them, so I think the ones we're used to in the supermarket are probably well fertilized and watered.
I was going to try elderberries, but others said they weren't that great tasting, so I think I may give the bush cherries a go. I certainly do have the room.
Always happy to see photos!
I have 3 Nanking Cherry bushes and 3 of another variety from Gurneys 4 years ago. They've been moved 3 different times, so finally got some size on them last year, around 6'. Only saw one red cherry, but the purple ones were pretty abundant. Think the birds really enjoyed them! Will have to invest in bird netting this year. The purple cherries didn't taste too bad, but read they are more for cooking instead of eating fresh.
Are your fruits the same size as regular cherries?
Sorry, forgot to mention...no, they are smaller, maybe 1/2 the size. The purple cherries grew all along the stems from botom to top. Only saw 1 red cherry, but it looked like the red cherries grew all along the stems, too. It was slightly bigger than the purple.
Thanks!
I just got 3 Nanking (bush) cherries. A DG friend in Ohio has a whole row of them and they had some ripe fruits when I visited there last June. Red. Tasty. Hers were about 6' tall, and several years old. She uses them as a foil for the birds to leave her peaches alone. I plan to use mine, don't know just how yet but I have a couple of years to decide...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/67340/
Thanks for the link, Darius!
Hey Jay... I saw somewhere (on DG) that you can plant Nanking cherry seeds and they will grow enough in 3 years to fruit. It is possible that mine might fruit next year.
Meanwhile I got in some chokecherry whips about 4' tall, just for the birds.
Just for the birds?! Are you nutz! Chokecherries are the best for jelly... we've got folks asking for ours every year.
I just got my sand cherry... it's more an ornamental I think, a spreading version. Hmmm... I think I'll need to get more.
Do you mean chokeberries... Aronia? That's what I meant to order. Got Prunus virgianiana by accident.
No, I mean chokecherries; they grow wild around here. We've got a lovely patch of them down by the creek in our pasture. Sometimes they'll grow to the height of a small tree, but around here they stay more like tall shrubbery.
I've never heard of the other.
Jay,
Those look delish! When you pick some this year, I would love to trade seeds for some.
Remind me! I'd be happy to send seeds. =0)
I'll probably post the jelly making process, because these fruits are mostly pit and very tart, a major pucker. I don't particularly care for them straight off the bush, but the jelly is to die for.
They like water, so they ought to be tickled pink to be relocated to your area! LOL
Hey Caj... I can trade you a 4' plant!
Cool! What do you need in return? I can Dmail a list of what I have.
And I'll still send you a handful of pits... if I remember this fall. =0)
Thanks so much. You guys ROCK! LOL
Noooo, we're the pits! LOL
:)