That would not be acceptable to me. This season I planted a 3' Lapins branchless whip and got 5 cherries. I planted a larger bareroot Lapins this season too but planted it to late for it to flower. Next year I would be surprised if the larger of the two produced less than 100 edible cherries.

Boy I hope I'm not surprised next year.

Something is wrong.
I'm thinking mine is around 5 years, not full grown. I got 8-10 quarts this year. I think I got pies the second year.
By the time I got done with it and to the Montmorency I was sick of putting up pie filling and most of the Montmorency was either dried or fermented.

Matt:

There is great variation in the onset of real blossoming on cherries and many other fruits, depending on factors including climate, site selection, and pruning.

You are in a cooler climate, so your tree could be expected to grow and develop a little slower. The upside is that trees like cherries often have a longer useful life in cooler climates with fewer disease pressures.

I would not say you are in a situation where "something is wrong". When your tree begins to really blossom, it will happen quickly, from one season to the next. Meanwhile, keep the tree from becoming too crowded and busy in the center by targeted pruning. You want light to strike all the limbs and twigs if possible, because this stimulates blossoming.

If the tree is obviously healthy, just be patient and next year could be the year.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

It's NORTHstar. If it was a hotter zone I would say it's normal but zone 4 is more right than zone 5. It's from Minnesota and should be hardy to -40°.
I've heard of plenty of Northstars overgrown and not producing from the south but not the north.

Pruning could be an issue. As in if it's being done it is killing production. When I pruned off the poorly trained original box store branches mine had very few cherries the following season.

If it's not blooming I'd look to something cultural like overpruning keeping it in growth and removing flower buds. If it blooms and doesn't set I'd look to weather. If it blooms, sets but no fruit I'd look to birds or insects.
There's not enough information to know what is wrong but something is.

This is my previous NorthStar in bloom. They should bloom just has heavy when they're small.
{{gwi:110389}}

Twenty years ago, my husband and I planted two North Star cherries. Within 3 years they were both bearing. Seventeen years after that, they succumbed to bacterial canker so we replaced them with one new North Star, planting them about 30 yards away from the spot where the two diseased trees had stood. The new North Star, at 5 years old, is only 5 feet tall. It looks very healthy and even has a few cherries on it, but it certainly isn't performing (or growing!) as well as our previous trees. Is this just an aberration or has the North Star been rebred to be a shorty? We planted it exactly as we did our previous trees: plenty of peat moss, aged compost in the hole, watering each week, etc. What has gone wrong? Should we just dig it up and try another one??? Thanks for your advice. judy pincus