Ripe Bing cherries hanging on the branch

Bing Cherry

$69.99

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Needs a partner

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

See trees that will pollenize it Sweet Cherry Pollination Map

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Bing Cherry is a cherry tree rated hardy to zone 5 in our ratings (winters to -20°F), and not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for a sweet cherry).

Hardy to	Zone 5 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 5, colder half included (winters to -20°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Pollination	Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), mid spring here. Bing needs a different sweet cherry nearby as a pollenizer. Rainier, Skeena and Stella bloom at about the same time and White Gold overlaps a little later. All of them work genetically (a few growers report Stella not working well for Bing, so Rainier or Skeena is a safer pick). Good partners we carry: Rainier Sweet Cherry, Skeena Sweet Cherry, Stella Sweet Cherry, White Gold Sweet Cherry. Sweet Cherry Pollination Map.
Good for	Fresh eating (9/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	A deer favorite. Fence it or cage it.
What you get	Bare root, 3-4 ft or 4-5 ft or 5-6 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Bing is one of those timeless cherry varieties, but that also has many issues. The upside is that the flavor is exceptional. Talk to anybody who has been in the cherry world for a long time and they will cite Bing as having one of the best flavors. This is why for years it was the primary cherry grown around Flathead Lake.

Cold Climate Issues

But after brutal winters, particularly the winter of 88–89, that saw many Bing's with extreme damage or outright death, growers have since shifted away from Bing.

Why We Still Have These Trees

The only reason we have these trees still in stock is because they were remnant trees from when we used to grow more of them (their taste was that good) and there are some Bing's surviving and doing fairly well in the Missoula Valley, although they are in very protected urban areas.

The 2020 Fall Frost Event

With that said, we lost almost all of our 1–3 year old Bing trees during the fall frost on October 25th, 2020. These ones are from some of those 1-year-old trees that had dieback all the way to just above the graft. We grew them out from those buds above the graft, retrained them, and these are the last remaining.

Final Availability

After these are gone, we will no longer be growing Bing. It isn't worth the hassle for us in Montana, but if you are in an area that doesn't see below, say, –25°F—or even more conservatively –20°F—then these could work for you.

Questions we get about Bing Cherry

Does Bing Cherry need a pollenizer?

Yes. Bing Cherry needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Bing needs a different sweet cherry nearby as a pollenizer. Rainier, Skeena and Stella bloom at about the same time and White Gold overlaps a little later. All of them work genetically (a few growers report Stella not working well for Bing, so Rainier or Skeena is a safer pick). Partners we carry include Rainier Sweet Cherry, Skeena Sweet Cherry, Stella Sweet Cherry.

How cold hardy is Bing Cherry?

We rate Bing Cherry hardy to zone 5, which means winters down to about -20°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

What is Bing Cherry good for?

Our top use scores for Bing Cherry are fresh eating (9/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Will deer eat Bing Cherry?

Yes, deer love it. Protect Bing Cherry with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

What arrives, and when does Bing Cherry ship?

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 3-4 ft or 4-5 ft or 5-6 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.

Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Bing Cherry

Bing Cherry needs a different sweet cherry nearby to set fruit. Every tree below blooms at the same time and has pollen that works for it. Plant partners within about 100 feet.

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

Pollination Needs a partner

Pollen Good pollenizer

4 trees we carry will pollenize it. 2 in stock now.