Bing Cherry

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.