Sand cherries

[lovinglife]

My sand cherries are ready, will be making jelly this weekend! Woo Hoo!! Anyone else utilizing this wonderful little cherry bush?

 

[Tmann]

Never heard of it, having pics of yours?

 

[lovinglife]

darn I dont. They are a bush variety, the only kind I can grow I guess. I have killed three cherry trees, but these bush cherries do well.

 

[Becky]

Never tried them before! Do they taste very similar to cherries from trees? I have a great recipe for Cherry Bakewell Cake if you are interested

 

[lovinglife]

they are kind of between a sour and a sweet cherry, not real sour but not real sweet either. I like them a lot.

 

[lovinglife]

Oh, and I would like the cake recipe!

 

[Becky]

Here it is!

http://idlebakes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/food-for-picnic-part-1-gluten-free.html

I just used regular self-raising flour, not the gluten free stuff, and I used vanilla instead of almond extract. I also drizzled it with icing made using rose water. Yummy! Oh and you have to pay attention to the bit where it says leave the cake to cool completely before taking it out of the tin... I got impatient and nearly ended up with a cake in bits!!

 

[lovinglife]

Ummmmm!! Might have to do some converting to make this, but sure looks yummy!

 

[kate23]

Does anyone know if sand cherries definitely don't do well in hot/humid places? Awhile back I had sand cherries on my list of edibles that I want to grow, but then I found out they only really do well in the northern states. That's a shame...

I'm in Florida, in zone 9a of the USDA hardy zone.

 

[lovinglife]

I would suspect it is not so much the heat as the lack of cold. We get hot, but not humid, I live in a high desert so we get days often over 100, but we have plenty of winter also..

 

[Shirleyc Cox]

The sand cherry grows best and is often encountered in the northern parts of the United States and the eastern provinces of Canada where the temperature does not drop below -35 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sand Cherry tree looks very beautiful, and one of the most easiest tree to grow. It grows in all, except for damp and humid climates. It is best to plant in direct sunlight for the most part of the day. Well-drained soil works best. Sand cherry tree is adaptable to poor soil.

 

[Amalia]

I never had one but I'm thinking about planting. I've seen some pics and they look great.

 

[Shirleyc Cox]

Not only the looks but it taste also good. Good Luck Amalia

 

[Amalia]

I have a normal cherry tree but I'll try this one too.

 

[lovinglife]

I have tried two times with cherry trees, they always die so the sand cherry is it for me.

 

[kate23]

I would suspect it is not so much the heat as the lack of cold. We get hot, but not humid, I live in a high desert so we get days often over 100, but we have plenty of winter also..

Where I am we get between 540-660 chill hours per year...not sure if that would be enough though.

Sand Cherry tree looks very beautiful, and one of the most easiest tree to grow. It grows in all, except for damp and humid climates. It is best to plant in direct sunlight for the most part of the day. Well-drained soil works best. Sand cherry tree is adaptable to poor soil.

Yeah, that's what I suspected would be the problem. It's the problem with real cherries too. There are a few real cherries that are low chill but Florida's humid climate makes them susceptible to diseases. Except for Taiwan cherries, they were created by the University of Florida to be able to handle our hot, humid climate

Ah well, if sand cherries don't work at least there's Taiwan cherries and lots of fake cherries (Eugenia species, etc).

 

[kate23]

Nevermind about the Taiwan cherries I just realized that they don't have edible fruit. It's just an ornamental cherry tree.

 

[Amalia]

Ornamental trees are nice too, if you have the space to plant them. I would choose Taiwan cherries if I had the space.