Northwest Nursery Improvement Institute

Choose a Cherry Variety:

Chelan^™ PC 7146-23 cv. (USPP 8,545)

Chelan^™ brand cherry is the most popular early season, export-quality dark red sweet cherry in the Pacific Northwest. Similar to Bing in appearance, the fruit is medium-to-large in size, with a mahogany red skin and medium-to-dark red flesh. It ripens 10 to 12 days before Bing, has good firmness and flavor, and exhibits lower susceptibility to both rain-induced cracking and heat-induced double/spur fruit formation than Bing.

Chelan^™ brand cherry produces a tree that is more moderate in branching angle than Bing. It flowers precociously and fruits heavily, requiring good management to achieve optimal fruit size. Thus, precocious rootstocks are not needed for early cropping and may make management for optimal fruit size more intensive.

Chelan^™ brand cherry begins blooming several days ahead of Bing, though it flowers prolifically and generally overlaps with the later Bing bloom in the Pacific Northwest. It is self-infertile; known cross-pollinizers include Rainier, Bing, Van, and Index^™. Chelan^™ brand cherryis incompatible with Burlat, Tieton^™ and PC 7214-3. Pollen compatibility (S3S9). Recent screening tests have suggested Chelan^™ brand cherry is resistant to powdery mildew. More complete studies are being planned.

Most of the Chelan^™ brand cherry trees produced during the 1990s are assumed to be infected with Prune Dwarf Virus (PDV). Certified virus free budwood became available in 2000. Ongoing research has shown possible incompatibility of Chelan^™ brand cherry on Mahaleb rootstocks. Until further research is conclusive, Chelan^™ brand cherry is not recommended for propagation on Mahaleb rootstocks.

Production and compatibility of Chelan^™ brand cherry on rootstocks other than Mazzard is unknown at this time. BACK TO TOP

Benton^® PC7146-8 cv. (USPP 15,847)

Benton^® brand cherry is a mid-season, excellent quality dark red sweet cherry. Similar to Bing in appearance, the fruit is large but ripens a few days before Bing, has excellent firmness, and superior flavor. Benton^® brand cherry produces a vigorous tree that is similar in branching angle to Bing. It blooms later than Bing, consistently crops well, has lower susceptibility to rain cracking than Bing, and is self fertile.

In consumer evaluations at the local Prosser Farmer's Market, Benton^® brand cherry has performed better than all other cherries, including Bing, due to its superior flavor and quality.

Production and compatibility of Benton^® brand cherry on rootstocks other than Mazzard is unknown at this time. Benton^® brand cherry is susceptible to powdery mildew.
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Tieton^® PC7144-6 cv. (USPP 11,385)

Tieton^® brand cherry is an early-season, premium export-quality dark red sweet cherry. Similar to Bing in appearance, the fruit is very large in size (10 to 14 g, 28 to 32 mm width), with a glossy mahogany red skin and medium red flesh. It ripens 6 to 9 days before Bing, has excellent firmness, and a mild flavor. The susceptibility to both rain-induced cracking and heat-induced double/spur fruit are comparable to Bing.

Tieton^® brand cherry produces a vigorous tree that is similar in branching angle to Bing. Its productivity is light to moderate on standard rootstocks, suggesting that dwarfing, precocious, highly-productive rootstocks may be preferred. Experience with Tieton^® brand cherry on Gisela^® 5 suggests this may be the most optimal combination for moderating tree vigor and improving tree productivity.

Tieton^® brand cherry begins blooming slightly ahead of Bing, overlapping bloom periods very well in the Pacific Northwest. It is self-infertile but is compatible with Bing. It is incompatible with Burlat, Chelan^® brand cherry and PC 7214-3. Pollen compatibility (S3S9).

The chilling requirement of Tieton^® brand cherry is not yet known, but is presumed to be similar to that of Bing. Tieton^® brand cherry is susceptible to powdery mildew. BACK TO TOP

Cashmere^™ PC7144-3 cv.

Cashmere^™ brand cherry is an early-season, export-quality, dark red sweet cherry. Similar to Bing in appearance, the fruit is medium-to-large in size, with a mahogany red skin and dark red flesh. It ripens 8 to 11 days before Bing, has good firmness, and excellent flavor. It is more susceptible to rain-induced cracking than Bing.

Cashmere^™ brand cherry produces a tree that is very spreading and has much better branching angles than Bing. Its productivity is very good, as is its cold hardiness. Cashmere^™ brand cherry begins blooming several days after Bing, a valuable trait to reduce the potential for spring frost damage. It is self-fertile and thus can pollinate other cultivars with similar bloom times. The chilling requirement of Cashmere^™ brand cherry is not yet known, but is presumed to be similar to that of Bing. The susceptibility to heat-induced double/spur fruit is not known.

Production and compatibility of Cashmere^™ brand cherry on rootstocks other than Mazzard is unknown at this time. BACK TO TOP

Index^™ PC7222-1 cv. (USPP 10,459)

Index^™ brand cherry is an early-to-mid-season, export-quality dark red sweet cherry. Similar to Bing in appearance with a somewhat flattened dorsal side, the fruit is large in size, with a glossy mahogany red skin and medium red flesh. It ripens 4 to 6 days before Bing, has good firmness, and excellent flavor. The susceptibility to rain-induced cracking is comparable to Bing.

Index^™ brand cherry produces a tree that is similar in branching angle to Bing. Its productivity is very good. Index^™ begins blooming several days ahead of Bing, overlapping very well with Chelan^™ brand cherry in the Pacific Northwest. It is self-fertile and thus can pollinate other cultivars with similar bloom times. The chilling requirement of Index^™ brand cherry is not yet known, but is presumed to be similar to Bing.

Production and compatibility of Index^™ brand cherry on rootstocks other than Mazzard is unknown at this time. BACK TO TOP

Selah^® PC7064-3 cv. (Patent Pending)

Selah^® brand cherry is a late-season, excellent quality dark red sweet cherry. Its fruit is very large and ripens around Lapins. Selah^® brand cherry is moderately firm, and produces a vigorous tree that is similar in branching angle to Bing. It blooms with Bing and is self fertile.

Selah^® brand cherry has excellent flavor, scoring well when compared to Lapins in taste panel evaluations. It has long stems that help prevent tightly bunched clusters as seen with Lapins.

Production and compatibility of Selah^® brand cherry on rootstocks other than Mazzard is unknown at this time. Selah^® brand cherry is susceptible to powdery mildew. BACK TO TOP

Regina^™ Jork57/201 cv. (USPP 11,530)

A late maturing large red and flavorful cherry. Regina^™ brand cherry shows some resistance to rain cracking. It was developed in Germany. NNII assists the Cherry Variety Research Coop in marketing this selection. BACK TO TOP

Kiona^™ PC8007-2 cv.

Kiona^™ cherry trees produce large dark red fruit that ripen 6 to 9 days before Bing and a few days before the Tieton^® brand of cherry. Taste tests reveal high consumer appeal for this fruit. It blooms mid-late to late season, generally 4 to 7 days after Bing. Potential pollinzers include trees of Benton^® PC7146-8 cv., Skeena, CashmereTM PC7144-3 cv. and ReginaTM York 57/201 cv. (USPP 11530) BACK TO TOP

Cowiche^™ PC7903-2 cv.

The Cowiche^™ is a strongly flavored very large dark red cherry with excellent firmness that matures 4 to 7 days after Bing. Trees are very productive. Bloom is mid season and compatible with Bing, Van, Rainier, and Tieton^® PC7144-6 cv. The fruit stem is long and thick.