Topic: Morello cherry tree

[lin]

I bought one of these a couple of months ago at Aldi and put in my back garden as I just fancied picking cherries and eating them... the tree on my allotment gets loads of cherries, but either the birds or people pinch them, so I never get any. That's why I decided to buy a cherry for back garden.

Anyway my elderly plot friend Arthur came over today and he said that the Morello is too bitter to just eat direct off the tree. I have looked on the web and it does say they are a slightly bitter cherry and all you can really do is cook with them.
Perhaps I should just transplant to the allotment and get a different more edible variety of cherry for back garden.

Two questions... does anyone else have  a Morello and are they that bad to just eat off the tree... and secondly will I now have to wait till early spring to transplant or is it still okay to move it now... it has had a good show of blossom, but I assume it won't fruit this year, thanks for any info, oh and if anyone can recommend a good sweet cherry tree type to buy, let me know..
Lin

[Jeannine]

Morello is a sour cherry,bot bitter, but it is very good cooked.I would like another one if I had more room,it is ideal for cherry pie or jam.It is also a good pollinator . It will grow in quite cold areas which is why you see in in garden centres a lot.

I have a Stella, I like this cherry it is self pollinating and I get good yeilds and it is very sweet. I grew it before I moved back to the Uk and was pleased to see if had come too.I live on the East coast in Yorkshire and have had no problems at all with Stella.

XX Jeannine

[David R]

i had morello at my last house, i planted it from a shop bought twig and it grew into a lovely plant. the cherries are a bit sour, and i used them exclusively for making cherry liquer. 500g cherries, 500g sugar, 2 bottles vodka, 3 months later ;D

[Tora]

i used them exclusively for making cherry liquer. 500g cherries, 500g sugar, 2 bottles vodka, 3 months later ;D

Ditto! ;D Cherry liquer is really lovely! I once cooked cherry pie and it was nice too but I don't get a huge crop and cherry liquer goes a long way... :)

[jennym]

Bought a morello cherry last year, or the year before, and to my shame, bunged it in a corner and forgot about it. I mean bunged. I didn't plant it at all.
By the time it was remembered, the heat had got to it and, I thought may as well put it in as sling it. After a few months of nothing happening, thought to myself, it serves you right, but never got round to taking it out. Did chop it down to about 2 feet high, ready to dig out though, all the wood removed was thoroughly dead.
This spring, one lone shoot has emerged from this stump and burst into leaf, and it's from above the graft, so all is not lost and will mollycoddle it to see what happens.

[lin]

Thanks for all your answers perhaps it is a good one to keep then... I particularly like the idea of cherry liqueur your recipe sounds one to try David!! I already make damson gin later in the year and use it all the year round, so heres another one to add to that.

And Arthur has just told me that he likes them soaked in brandy, so there's another good reason.  (Talking about soaking, I have just been drenched to the skin over the plot planting leeks, hope this rain stops soon, we either get too little or waaay too much).

Mind you I may move my tree to the plot instead of my back garden because it sounds like it might be quite a big tree, unless of course it can be kept trimmed small without affecting the fruiting?

And although I make a whole variety of jams, blackcurrant and apple, damson and victoria plum, perhaps I can add cherry to that, have never tried it, but it sounds good! Lin

[real food]

Another good sweet self-fertile cherry is Summer Sun, bred in Canada, Jeannine! Slightly later than Stella, but dark red cherries.

[Jeannine]

Now don't be getting me all nostalgic, I miss my orchard as it is, and yes it is a good one too but we couldn't find it 4 years ago,now somebody please tell me where I can buy a Dolma crab apple?

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

They bottle well for pies too XX Jeannine

[natasha]

Well, we did not know that people think it's bitter, so we ate them from the tree last year and thought it was delicious! :P
A bit sour ....., but at least it has the taste comparing to the supermarket ones :-\

[Palustris]

Jeannine. Are you sure of the name of the Crab Apple. There is no mention of one by that name in the monograph on Flowering Crab Apples.

[Jeannine]

Hi, me and my typing...it is a Dolga crab.  Brillaint red fruit about the size of a damson. The very best I ever had for jelly XX Jeannine

[Palustris]

Look here Jeannine.
http://www.keepers-nursery.co.uk/dolgo_variety.aspx
Also called Pink Glow.

[Jeannine]

I was really excited when I saw this, then I looked. A one year old maiden £14.50 plus delivery charge of £13 50.. It is the right tree but I will refuse to pay such high shipping on a one year old tree. Thank you for trying for me, I was tempted but feel I am encouraging rip offs with a silly shipping charge like this. XX Jeannine