It has been a cool, wet winter here and the stone fruit trees in our “orchard” are taking their time waking up. There have been some years where they are almost all in bloom by the second week of February. Finally the cherry trees are coming into bloom.
There are only a few cherry varieties that will grow in our climate because we do not get near enough winter cold temperatures. The ones that do grow here require a second variety for pollination. Initially we had the two available varieties planted together and after several years they finally bloomed and we got a couple handfuls of cherries. Unfortunately, one of the pair died out over the next couple years as the other matured into a nice sized tree that is covered in flowers in the spring. A replacement tree was obtained, but unlike some of the other types of stone fruit, cherries are slower to mature. The newer tree started blooming a couple years ago — but too early for the older tree. Thus only one or two cherries from all the lovely flowers. Finally this year, the timing is overlapping. Maybe there will be a cherry harvest in a few months.