You don't say where you are but I'm in Raleigh and I bought a Northstar out at the State Farmers Market. Whatever rootstock its on it must be super dwarf because the tree is tiny.

i'm in durham. when did you plant it and how is it doing?

I've had it for a few years. It spent the first year or so in a large pot because I knew I was selling and moving. I've been at the new house since February and its been in the ground about 6 months. Due to the drought it hasn't grown much at all but the trunk has gotten thicker. It is now about four feet tall and three feet wide (I am a heavy pruner) and I get one bowl full of cherries from it.

I've seen northstars grown somewhat successfully- though they are way smaller and much, much uglier than up north. Cherries still taste good, though, but they are small. I tried leaving mine in a big tub (32 gallon with lots of drainage) and it finally gave up the ghost this past spring after i'd guess about 9 years. Never got much fruit, and it stayed at about 5' the whole time. I also had tried a stella compact the same way and the same thing had happened (much sooner with it- it only lasted about 2 yrs). I figured the cooler winter temps, rich soil and drainage would benefit them, but they just weren't happy. And the same happened with bush cherries- i've tried no names, and all three of the jan, joy, josh trio. Have tried them in the ground and pots. Nada. May try one more time in back, with the bush cherries but otherwise i'm writing off true cherries. I finally got some fruit off my yellow cornelian cherry this year and it does taste remarkably like cherries- it seems very disease and bug free, and they don't get ginormous (it's a type of dogwood). So maybe that's the solution. You do def need 2 to pollinate. that's my main issue- one's small in a pot, the other's in the ground, and i don't get enough cross pollination, but loads of blooms. Totally my fault.

if it's a tart cherry, they are self-fertile so you only need one. i'm going to give it one more go with a montmorency on mahaleb rootstock. we'll see...

It's not a true cherry (prunus species). It's a type of dogwood (cornus mas). I did say all that. You definitely need a pollinator for them.

I have volunteer cherries unknown variety here in Orange County some previous owner planted, they thrive on neglect, no disease, but squirrels get them all still green. Will share seedlings, contact if you want to trade.

Why don't sweet cherries do well? Is the soil too heavy?

I guess that's it, in combination with a need for cold but not too cold winters. You could try if you had sandy soil- problem is, most of the sandy soil is closer to the coast with more warm weather. They are cantankerous. Try one and see what happens- you may get lucky. Certainly the wild cherries, weeping cherries & other ornamentals do fine in this area.

I have a Bing cherry tree which puts out large quantities of cherries for its size. It might be a semi-dwarf. I am in the piedmont area. I also have a sour cherry tree, not sure of the variety. It is not doing as well as the Bing.

Sweet cherries aren't good because they need a cooler summer and warmer winter than what's consistent in the Carolinas' climate. The winter needs to be chilly but mild for their longer chill requirement. Then, on top of that, sweet cherries bloom even earlier than sour cherries, so they get nipped by frosts even more so than peaches.

You have to have a pollinator companion sweet cherry for fruits, so it's not just getting one sweet cherry tree to prosper, you need at least one other that blooms at the same time as they others. It's complicated...