Probably a typo. Likely it was supposed to say self-fertile.

bboy, Do you know for a fact that the 'Viva' sweet cherry tree is self-fertile?

I know for a fact that it isn't self-fertile :-)) It does require another cultivar (outside of its incompatability group) for cross pollination. Despite numerous sources that state otherwise, tart or sour cherries can serve as cross pollination sources for sweet cherries as long as bloom times (not expected harvest dates) are compatible. And there are a growing number of self-fertile sweet cherries on the market and more being developed every year - three that are very popular in this area are 'Stella', 'Lapins' and 'Sweetheart' but they may not be well-suited for all areas.

Since hybrids have been grown for a long time we know that sweet and sour cherries do cross or can be crossed.

Katrina,
Did you misread the info for 'Viva'? It looks accurate to me.
Sam

Here is a link that might be useful: Greenwood Nursery, McMinnville TN

After reading Bboy's response on Jan. 29th, I emailed Greenwood Nursery to ask if the (no pollinator needed) comment was a mistake. Then they emailed me back and said yes it was a mistake and that the Viva cherry does need a pollinator.

Sam, you must have check their site after they updated their website and corrected the information for that tree.

I'm going to start a new post and share more about how impressively they worked with me, in a effort for me to be sure that, from them, I did not end up ordering the wrong trees.

In the past I ordered a Dawn redwood 'Gold Rush' tree from Greenwood Nursery, and they sent me a very good looking tree.

Now, once again I am very happy with them and their customer service. Even when my order seemed to, at first, turn out so stressful.

Gardengal48, In all the research I did to get my Greenwood Nursery order right, I have found some very good information concerning the 'Lapins' cherry, which is self-fertile. That is the tree I am currently trying to find. Thanks for confirming as to how others have been pleased with this and the other cultivars you listed.

I found that Nature Hills Nursery has an over 3 feet tall, bare root Lapins cherry for sale, but it is on standard size root stock. Hopefully with a little more research, I can find one on dwarf or at the most, semi-dwarf root stock.

Katrina, Raintree Nursery sells a number of self-fertile sweet cherries, Lapins included. All of their cherries are grafted on Gisela 5 (Giessen 148-2) dwarf rootstock, which should result in the trees being able to be maintained at around 15' in height. In this area, most reputable nurseries do not sell full sized cherries as the bulk of the crop is lost to birds or inaccessibility.

Raintree Nursery is located here in the PNW, but it does extensive mail order across the country. Its Garden Watchdog reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

Here is a link that might be useful: Raintree Nursery

Thanks for the link gardengal.