Cornelian Cherries

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The best plants for fruit are the ones developed specifically for this purpose and grown from cuttings. Orchard stock usually bears fruit the second or third year after planting, although I have waited as long as eight years for some of my trees to bear a crop. Plants raised from seed will revert to wild types with small, stony cherries. The same is true of the ornamental varieties developed primarily for their spring flowers. It is therefore important to get the best stock possible for the purpose you intend.

Organic growers will take pleasure in noting that the cornelian cherry is largely pest-free and not subject to the same diseases as the American dogwood. I have never sprayed my trees for any reason in all the years I have grown them. Catbirds and magpies are fond of pecking the ripe fruit, but theyre about the only competition you will have at harvest time.?

Tasty Russian & Ukrainian Varieties

(American names in parentheses)

‘Elegantnii’ (‘Elegant,’ shown below). Heavy crops of red, long, pear-shaped fruit.

‘Lukyanovski’ (‘Pioneer’). Sweet, red, pear-shaped fruit.

‘Siretski ‘(‘Red Dawn’). Bright-red, cylindrical fruit.

‘Vidubetskii’ (‘Red Star’). Dark-red, long, oval fruit. Ripens later than other varieties.

‘Yantarnii’ (‘Yellow,’ shown in image gallery). Sweet, lemon-yellow, olive-shaped fruit. Excellent stewed.

Plant Sources

One Green World, based in Molalla, Ore., carries good quality cornelian cherries and offers a number of the best Ukrainian and Russian varieties.

Cornelian Cherry Preserve

This method is adapted from an 18th-century recipe and is quite easy because cornelian cherries are rich in pectin — even the juice will gel quickly. Make certain to use fruit that is fully ripe. Because the cherries have a large pit like that of an olive, it is easier to preserve the fruit whole rather than to pit them. Also, the pits give the preserve additional flavor; in former times, one was provided with a little silver spoon into which you decorously slipped the pits from your mouth.

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