Cornelian Cherry

Growing

You can grow Cornelian cherry as a small tree in your landscape or as a feature in a container. When you are starting new plants from cuttings or seeds, or transplanting nursery stock, focus on maintaining a balanced structure. These trees can grow large, but you can manage their size by pruning annually and training upright limbs downward. This improves lateral branching, increases fruit quality, and makes the canopy easier to harvest.

Watch your fruit during the warm season for the cherry fruit fly. This pest overwinters in the soil beneath your tree, with adults emerging as the soil warms. To manage it, clean up the area after your harvest. Remove as much fallen or unpicked fruit from the ground and the tree as possible, as leftover fruit provides a home for the next generation of flies.

The berries have an acidic flavor reminiscent of a blend between cranberry and sour cherry. Because the fruit does not ripen once it has been removed from the branch, wait until it reaches a dark ruby-red or bright yellow color on the tree before picking. Once harvested, keep the fruit unwashed. For long-term use, you can freeze or dry it, or can the berries for jams.