North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Title: Re: [NAFEX] "Sour Chari" and "CKVL#1": Joe Brown

The late Professor Elwyn Meader crossed two species of plums to get a fruit that looks and tastes like a pie cherry, but on a bush only 6 feet tall at maximum.  The interesting part is that they ripen in August when all other cherries are gone and the birds usually ignore them because at that time of year their brains tell them to seek blue or black fruit.  I imagine they would be safe from cherry fruit flies because they are much later than the flies are around, and being plums (technically) they might not be attractive to the flies.
    The drawback to them here in Oregon is that they bloom early during cool, wet weather and get pseudomonas badly.  I suspect that, because they are graft compatible with plums, they could be grafted on a trunk like a tree rose and they would get enough air circulation to keep from having the disease.  I've just never had time to test them that way.
-Lon Rombough


> Is there a cherry that ripens its fruit in August?
> Does it bloom later than other cherries? Maybe there's
> a way to escape the circulios's most active egg-laying
> period.