Fruit · Rosaceae
When to plant sour cherries
The cherry for a difficult site. Self-fertile, tolerant of a north-facing wall, later to flower than a sweet cherry, and the fruit is better cooked than the sweet kind anyway.
First worthwhile crop
Year 3
After planting, not after sowing.
Hardy in USDA zones
4a to 8a
Winter cold sets the limit here, not the calendar.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Nothing about a standing crop is sown to a calendar. Once planted, sour cherries stay in the ground for years, so the question is not when to sow but whether your winter is survivable and your planting window is open. Both answers come from your frost dates.
- Expect a first worthwhile crop in year 3 after planting.
- Needs roughly 900 chill hours below 7.2°C (45°F)45°F (7.2°C) over winter to set fruit, which rules out the warmest climates.
- Hardy in USDA zones 4a–8a.
Frost tolerance
Later blooming and hardier in flower than sweet cherry, which is why it is the one that still crops in a cold spring.
Classified as very-hardy.