nanking cherry, ripe today in mid July

nanking cherry, ripe today in mid July. slightly earlier than the larger sour cherries and evans by about. week. sooner in full sun, another bush I checked had orange / some green fruit but it was in full shade. nanking can be pruned as a bush, and are range lived - the bushes I picked today are three decades old, and fully cold hardy to -40. they're great to eat fresh, just small for a cherry pitter. I'll process these and keep seed to grow next year, and some will make it onto our seed shop. to grow them, cold stratify for three months, in a fridge in a bag with damp peat moss, vermiculite or sand just enough to keep the seed damp, and then plant in the spring. At about four months whether you want them to or not, they'll germinate in the fridge, so time it. Or plant outside in the fall, just cover them so they don't turn into a snack for mice etc.