I have always considered the Evans cherry as tasting rather like a glorifed pincherry ... well, at least like some of the pincherries I've tasted here. This year the flavor was somewhat better with all the sun and heat we've received. They are excellent for perserves and I've definitely not at all complaining about the Evans! I have the U of S cherry collection, some of which had begun to fruit for the first time this summer. One wasn't too terribly different than Evans, and the pit was quite large. Another had somewhat better flavor and firmer flesh, not at all bad! Unfortunately, the labels had fallen out of the pots during shipment and I'm unsure as to what variety is what!

Konrad's success with grafting sweet cherries onto pincherry is exciting news and I now look forward to the day I can possibly be harvesting sweet cherries from my own bushes. I have pincherries growing upon my property that I'd like to be able to bud, though securing budwood might be a bit of a task ... I wish I had contacts in the BC interior!

Terry

This sounds very interesting Alcan!...thanks for posting!

I can't comment on other pie cherries, all I have growing now is Evans, had one or two other ones but all have died out.

Have never heard about Surfire or Mesabi, have Goggled a little and it seems fairly common in the USA....You shouldn't have too much trouble to obtain some scion wood, I would think? Surefire is rated as Zone 4 hardiness, pretty well the same as Evans, sure wouldn't mind to
try this one some day.
Konrad

 >> grafting sweet cherries onto pincherry is exciting news and I now
 >> look forward to the day I can possibly be harvesting sweet cherries

twrosz,
Sweet and Pie cherries can easily be grafted to each other as is done all the time. This comes from an experimenter, you might know him Clair, who lives around the coldest Fairbanks AK. A pie cherry 'Evans' 3ft high on Pin cherry 'Jumping Pound' from his place 13 months ago while visiting with my camera.. From this experiment what works good for Pie cherries onto Pin should also be compatible for the Sweets you want to try.

One caution. Clair's combination still has the pin cherry leaves and it is possible (as it has not been proven) there could be phloem tissues failing to connect properly.. If he was to remove pin cherry branches the roots could eventually starve to death. This type of condition was first reported in 1949 between peach and a certain type of plum... and now hopefully in your experiments you might be trying to leave some of yours with the branches on.

Glad to hear something of the dwarfish U of S hybrid cherries. They are a long bred stock of dwarfing cherries that I fully think will be hardy in Fairbanks even on thier own roots. For Fairbanks Clair says Pie cherry 'Evans' will not get as big on it's own root as his one grafted to pin cherry. From what I've seen in Fairbanks even apple trees grow up smaller.

Thanks Konrad. I think I'll be in the nieborhood soon. But is there any dates set for showing fruit?

Picture, [this year] is one of many, grafted Evans to pin cherry.

>>I think I'll be in the neighborhood soon. But is there any dates set for showing fruit?

That would be exiting!....are you coming with Clair? He has come
many times to the fruit show.

Growers get together is on the 16 of Sept.
Public viewing is on Sunday the 17.

Konrad

Has anyone here tasted pincherry or chokecherry jelly?

I'm thinking of growing one of the two for jelly. If chokecherry, my concern is that it may die of x-disease and spread that to the sweetcherry tree i have.

I'm also concerned about growing pincherry on a site that only gets 6 hours sunlight and this only from the south (not east or west).

Both are very good, so are the pies.But then again I am a praire girl and grew up eating them, as well as right of the tree (pucker you up for a week). I think it is a comfort thing. I prefer chokecherry. I have never seen our chokecherries diseased but they are probably from the back forty and wild stock transplanted closer to the house.

I bought two Mesabi cherries from Hortico a couple years ago and they were loaded with fruit this year. The cherries are about the same colour, size and firmness as the Evan's Cherry, but much sweeter. So far the trees have been much hardier than a zone 4: they came thru -47C on my farm winter of 09-10. Mesabi also has a very attractive dark burgundy bark with a kind of metallic sheen to it. A real winner in my opinion.