Don't plant Bing!

I have a Stella, it self pollinates...... a little.

Some years I get one cherry after the critters reject it for what ever reason.

I'm grafting a pie cherry this year, a Montmorency. The rootstock is in the ground already. Hopefully the critters will reject the tart cherries and I can get something after adding my own sugar.

I have a sweetheart cherry this is growing well. It produces well (though usually, the birds and tree rats get most of the fruit, even if i bag/net clusters). I think I planted it twelve years ago. It did have a darker sweet cherry partner, but that died from canker 6 or 7 years ago.

I'm in 7a of Northern VA so similar mid-atlantic climate. I would definitely recommend it.

I had a similar experience to JohnD, planted a Bing at my new home and got squat, lots of pretty blooms but barely any fruit. I left a Stella Sweet back at my old home and it produced gobs of cherries, and the new owner cut it down, same with an excellent Asian pear I left behind, ugh. Stark Bros was my source for both Cherries.

Bing requires a pollination partner; Stella does not. That would explain why one produced little, if any, fruit and the other plenty.

I considered growing Bing but was advised that they can't take the amount of water in the ground anywhere east of the Mississippi river and aren't recommended."They tend to split"; I wound up with the Stella because it didn't need a partner. I think mine could use one along with more sun.