Black Gold vs White Gold: Two Self-Fertile Sweet Cherries for Zone 3b

Both of these are self-fertile, both are rated zone 3b, and both came out of the Cornell program in Geneva, New York. The difference is color and bloom time. Black Gold is a dark cherry that blooms late, so it's the one for a frosty valley. White Gold is a yellow, Rainier-style cherry that blooms a little earlier and ripens a few days sooner. Plant both and they pollenize each other and stretch your cherry season.

Hardiness

Both are rated zone 3b, winters to -35F. Our notes have Black Gold taking -33F. We used to rank these two right behind Gold as the hardiest sweet cherries, but Lapins has since outlasted both of them, so the order now is Gold, Lapins, then Black Gold and White Gold. They've both fared well in the cold compared to most sweet cherries we've grown in Montana.

White Gold has one weak spot. On October 25, 2020 we hit -10F before the trees were dormant, and it wiped out our White Golds. Sweet cherries build hardiness through the fall and lose it fast in warm spells, so an early hard freeze can do more damage than a colder night in January. Check your site with the cold hardiness calculator.

Bloom and Pollination

Black Gold is bloom group 6 of 7, late for a sweet cherry. Late bloom is its big advantage in frosty valleys, since it has better odds of missing a spring frost. White Gold is group 5 of 7, mid-late.

Both are self-fertile, so one tree of either will crop. Both also carry the S4' allele that makes a sweet cherry self-compatible, and pollen carrying it works on any sweet cherry. Black Gold (S4'S6) is the best pollenizer in our lineup for Gold, which blooms late and needs a partner. White Gold (S3S4') overlaps the front of Gold's bloom and also covers Rainier and Bing. See the sweet cherry pollination map.

Ripening

White Gold ripens about July 13 to July 25 in Missoula. Black Gold ripens about July 17 to July 29. Those are our Missoula estimates from published sources, and real years swing about a week either way. The ripening map has the dates for your town.

Fruit and Flavor

Black Gold is a dark sweet cherry with notes of honey and a splash of tang. It's great fresh and on ice cream, and the fruit resists cracking. It scores 8/10 fresh and 7/10 as a pollenizer.

White Gold is yellow with a red blush and white to very pale flesh, with very good flavor and a firm texture. Crack tolerance is intermediate. It also scores 8/10 fresh and 7/10 as a pollenizer.

Disease

Both have good tolerance to bacterial canker, one of the biggest sweet cherry problems in the North. White Gold is also notably tolerant of cherry leaf spot, which is why it's recommended for wetter, more humid places.

Rootstock and Size

Black Gold comes on your choice of Mazzard or Mahaleb, both full size. Mazzard makes a tree about 25 to 35 ft unpruned and is slow to bear, often 5 to 6 years. Mahaleb makes a tree about 20 to 30 ft and loves dry, well-drained soil. White Gold comes on Mahaleb. Plant it 18 to 22 ft apart. Our rootstock guide covers both roots.

Deer

Deer love both. Fence or cage them.

What We'd Plant

On a frosty site, or if you also want Gold, plant Black Gold. Its late bloom dodges spring frost and it's Gold's best partner. If you want a yellow cherry or you're in a wetter spot, plant White Gold. With room for two, plant both for dark and yellow fruit across most of July.

Shop Black Gold Sweet Cherry and White Gold Sweet Cherry, or see all our self-fertile cherry trees and sweet cherry trees.

See all our variety comparisons on our compare varieties page.