A day celebrating one of the fruit bowl’s sweetest treats is upon us – as July 16 marks National Cherry Day.
There are many ways to mark this day, established to recognise and celebrate the re-emergence of cherry orchards here in Britain, after many were wiped out post-war to make space to grow essential crops to feed the country.
The revival in cherry growth on our lands was so impressive, in fact, that a whole day was established, and has grown in popularity, going strength to strength.
Whether baking a delicious dessert centred around the glazy red fruits, sampling their sweet flavours, or growing your own from the comfort of your garden, cherries are certainly fruits we would miss if they were to vanish – so take time to appreciate them!
To celebrate National Cherry Day, here are some of the classic varieties you could grow in your garden:
A classic, and one of the very best. There are many reasons why so many gardeners turn to ‘Stella’ trees to satisfy their cherry-growing needs.
Sample heavy and reliable yearly crops, upwards of 5kg per tree once established. This variety has a good resistance to late frosts and differs from most other cherries as it thrives in exposed garden spots, so is equipped to impress in patio pots.
Dark-skinned, plump, juicy, and delightfully aromatic fruits can be picked from around July. What’s more, ‘Stella’ is self-fertile, therefore does not need to be planted near another variety for pollination – it’ll produce fruit all on its own!
So clever and unique, we still find ourselves amazed by this revolutionary cherry bush.
Still a relatively new concept, a cherry bush resolves issues that many face when growing cherries.
This variety is a bush of cherries, as opposed to the typically grown tree, so clumps of nice and neat fruiting branches form from the base. The plant does not grow too tall, so picking the fruits is so simple. Plus, it is not much of a task to spread a netting across the bush to deter persistent birds.
Fruits produced by ‘Porthos’ still boast that headline sweet taste that we all love of cherries, yielding well, and is completely self-fertile.
Duo Fruit Tree – Cherry ‘Stella’ and ‘Sunburst’
Struggling to choose which cherry to introduce to your garden, but only have the space for one plant? Why not opt for an immensely clever duo fruit tree. This cherry-specific duo tree has been meticulously grafted to feature two different trees on a single rootstock. As this is dwarfing, it even remains compact through growth.
Half this tree features ‘Stella’ cherries, while the other is ‘Sunburst’, which is a dark red cherry, cropping ready to pick before ‘Stella’, giving you a long harvesting period of July to August across the whole plant.
Cherry Bush ‘Athos’
That unmistakable classic cherry flavour – the fruits of ‘Athos’ are super sweet and aromatic. These totally winter hardy bushes produce up to 5kg of fruit each year, once fully established. A naturally dwarf bush, grow this variety to pick heavy crops of tasty cherries from each branch, easily and from the safety of ground level each summer. Like the previous variety, 'Athos' is suited to pot growing, even lending itself to life as a productive hedge. Thankfully, this is also self-fertile.