Meteor Tart Cherry (Spring 2027)

Overview

Meteor is a tart (sour) cherry introduced in 1952 by the University of Minnesota fruit breeding program at Excelsior, Minnesota. It was developed for cold climates and later ripening than Montmorency.

History & Parentage

Extension and pomology references describe Meteor as a cross of Montmorency × a Russian-type selection.

Fruit Quality & Uses

Meteor produces medium-sized, bright red tart cherries with clear juice and semi-firm flesh, ripening about a week after Montmorency (typically around early August here in Missoula, MT). It’s typically positioned as a kitchen/processing cherry for pies, baking, sauce, preserves, and juice. But in our experience, they make dried cherries just as good as Montmorency. One extension note also mentions it’s not ideal for commercial processing because the pit can behave poorly during pitting in some settings.

Growth Habit & Spacing

Meteor is widely sold as a naturally smaller tart cherry tree (often described around the 10–12 ft class in home-orchard contexts), with an upright to spreading habit. A practical spacing for a small tart cherry like this is commonly 10–12 ft (wider if you want more airflow and less pruning pressure).

Pollination

Meteor is as self-fruitful (self-fertile). Even so, tart cherries often crop heavier with another tart cherry nearby that blooms at a similar time. Will cross with Evan's Bali tart cherry or even the dwarf cherries. Could also cross with the less hardy Danube/Montmorency, although if you're planting this due to its adaptability to the cold, plant with either Evan's or the dwarf cherries.

Cold Hardiness

For a concrete mid-winter extreme figure, Meteor can tolerate down to about -40°F when fully dormant.

About the photo: this isn’t Meteor itself. Photos of Meteor are either under copyright or simply unavailable, so we picked the open-source image that looks closest to the fruit. Photo: “Sauerkirschen” by Kai-Martin Knaak, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Other photo: “PI 592848 Meteor (Prunus cerasus), 2013 immature fruit” by USDA ARS National Plant Germplasm System (GRIN-Global), via USDA GRIN, public domain.