Rainier Cherries

[Rorty]

I love Rainier cherries and decided to add a tree to my garden which is proving far from easy. They are American and I can't find any trees for sale in the UK. After extensive googling I found someone offering five cherry seeds for £5 which tempted me until I saw the price of P&P was £22! Then I figured as I'm in my late 70s I am more likely to die before seeing a single cherry.

I would really appreciate it if anyone can tell me why they aren't available in the UK?

Many thanks.

 

[NigelJ]

Could be that Rainier cherries don't grow well in this country. Or that nobody did a deal with the American breeder to import them.
Also they were bred about 1952 so they could have been superceded by better varieties.

 

[Rorty]

Yes I guess that's the case but I've never found out by googling, why it doesn't grow well. I think I will wait until I can buy som from M&S and have a go growing the stones.

Thanks for your answer

 

[Mr_Yan]

The only "problem" I see is that Rainier cherries aren't self fertile so the stones will yield a hybrid Rainier x (something). But that something will be another sweet cherry so why not?

To speed things along could you get another sweet cherry going then tip graft anything that does sprout from the Rainier stones onto that existing tree. I've never grafted anything but it is on my to-do list to learn this.

Washington State University in the USA has a sweet cherry pollination webpage here (click) with a suggested list of compatible pollinators to look for.

 

[Rorty]

I'll take a look at that link, many thanks. When my gardener comes next week I'll check if she has any grafting experience because I certainly haven't.

In the end I think sense will prevail and I will buy a cherry tree suitable for growing in the UK.

Many thanks.