Does anyone know if this variety is still under patent I have done my share of googling and have found very little information.

Information on acquiring scionwood is appreciated.

I find it hard to believe that this one is under patent, if it's really an ancient Spanish cherry...

Guigne is not a sour cherry type, it is a sweet cherry type. Biggareaus are the crunchier ones and guigne are the softer ones.

Scott

Zaiger I heard has some new ones in trials. You may want to wait. Maybe ask Weatherman about it he seems to always know what's coming. Or just ask admin (Craig) at Dave Wilson Forums. I'm sure they are aware of this problem. They had said bloom times match up better as trees become established. But I would add another.

I had a tree from the Arboreum but it did not survive :-(

When I first got it I tried to graft a portion onto a preferred rootstock but every attempt failed. The tree came as a whip that was about 3/8-1/2" in diameter. Luckily I farmed out some scion wood to a couple of people who had better luck. Before the remains of my tree gave up the ghost it gave me a handful of very tasty cherries. Perhaps not gigantic like some commercial varieties but very tasty and certainly worth growing.

This year I'm trying again. I had a much more expert grafter (one of my scion wood recipients) try three branches on a potted rootstock I had grown out last year. I also brought a little wood home and tried again (3 branches!) on the third sucker I've coaxed from the in-ground rootstock where I made my initial attempts.

Time will tell...........

[I hope this actually works...what an odd way to add a post.......]

Mahaleb....yeah, that's what the Cristobalina came on. Who wants a cherry tree that large?!

No sign of life (other than a little wishful thinking) on the grafts yet. Ridiculously warm here (sorry Eastern people....) so something should happen soon. Minnie Royal and Royal Lee bud clusters just starting to unpack (still in the shade).

Ive never tried Mahaleb here but can tell you that Mazzard is sure death and Colt is only slightly better here. Our heavy clay and salt content just doesnt like traditional cherry rootstocks. Zaigers Z-Dwarf with its plum parentage is what made cherries possible here. They are dead hardy on Z-Dwarf. And another beauty of Z-Dwarf is that it suckers from the root, so it doesnt matter much that you cant buy it as its providing me with new rootstock to cut out and replant. Annoying habit it it wasnt such a amazing root for us. Ive got Krysmk 5 coming in soon and am interested in seeing what it will do here. Next year im going to have to order in a Cristobalina in to cut up or convince someone to sent me scion wood.

All my cherries are on Krymsk 5 (from Raintree). Happy so far, but my conditions are very different from yours. Krymsk is also obliging in the sucker department, but not annoying. I have my four cherries planted in a group and when my first Cristobalina try failed (a couple of tries in the first season...) the rootstock "trunk" eventually gave up but sent up a sucker which I cultivated and used for another try the next season. I'm now on the third sucker from that original root (hardy, insistent little thing!) for another go-round. I really hope this time is it because the other three trees are really getting along and it will be hard for this one to catch up. That's the dark side of planting trees in groups. I have a similar issue with one peach. Still struggling with that one but I think there it's just a bad rootstock.

I realize this thread has been on ice for 3 years, but since I'm in Phoenix and just planted 6 varieties of cherry in my back yard, thought I'd try to revive it for discussion. The varieties I planted (only ones I could find) are the Minnie Royal, Royal Lee, Royal Crimson, Royal Rainier, Stella, and Lapins. I realize the Rainier is a serious longshot but it was available so for $20 I decided why not. All are on a new rootstock called MaxMa 14, except the Royal Crimson (no idea, no tag, but all the online retailers seem to list it with Mazzard, though I read it was supposed to be released on MaxMa14 for the first time this year), and the Lapins which is on Z-dwarf. All were planted bare root, all woke up with vigor and are pushing serious growth. This thread is the first I've heard of Christobalina but if any of the current varieties fail I'll replace with that.

@cwlucking any updates please? Do you know where could I get a Christobalina online?

From research I've done in past reading I got the impression Cristobalina is a dark sweet cherry with a decent level of tartness, but the primary drawback is it doesn't have a huge amount of flesh surrounding the seed.

I don't think you are going to find it online, unless something has changed in the last four years (I did a lot of research). You're likely not going to find it unless you're in Spain, or have connections in the California Rare Fruit Growers community.

Keep in mind it was a colder Winter than usual this year, so if cherries do well and are vigorously waking up, that may not be the case every year.