Rainier Sweet Cherry Tree | Bare Root, Zone 4

Rainier Sweet Cherry (Spring 2027)

$64.99

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)

Disease resistanceNo strong resistance

Bacterial canker : Moderate, 3 of 5
Brown rot : Unknown, no published data yet
Cherry leaf spot : Unknown, no published data yet
Cytospora canker : Unknown, no published data yet
Little cherry disease : Unknown, no published data yet
Powdery mildew : Susceptible, 2 of 5
X-disease : Susceptible, 2 of 5

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our cherry disease chart (opens in a new tab)

On video

We Discovered a 100 Year Old Wild Cherry Food Forest (plays in a pop-up)
14 min video
Full description

At a glance: Rainier Sweet Cherry is a cherry tree rated hardy to zone 4 in our ratings (winters to -30°F), not self-fertile, so it needs a different variety nearby as a pollenizer (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for a sweet cherry), and it ripens about Jul 17 to Jul 29 in Missoula (our Missoula estimate).

Hardy to	Zone 4 to 8. A bare number means the whole of zone 4, colder half included (winters to -30°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 700 hours (500 to 900). Well documented. Independent sources agree. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Needs Cross-Pollination. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), mid spring here. Rainier needs a different sweet cherry nearby as a pollenizer. Bing is a classic partner since they bloom together, and self-fertile Stella, Skeena or White Gold also work well. Good partners we carry: Bing Cherry, Skeena Sweet Cherry, Stella Sweet Cherry, White Gold Sweet Cherry. Sweet Cherry Pollination Map.
Ripens	About Jul 17 to Jul 29 in Missoula (a Missoula estimate from published sources). Real years swing about a week either way. See the date for your town.
Rootstock and size	MaxMa 14: semi-dwarf to semi-standard, about 14 to 18 ft tall unpruned. Handles calcareous soil. Our rootstock guide.
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, 5-7 ft. Regular Grade or 5-7 ft. Larger & more branching. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Rainier Cherry, a cross between Bing and Van, is arguably the most famous yellow (or yellowish) cherry. Known for its rich, zesty flavor, Rainier is a favorite among cherry lovers. However, it has a reputation for being challenging to grow, especially in climates with frequent rainfall, as it is prone to cracking.

Fruit Characteristics and Flavor

Rainier cherries produce large, firm fruits with a distinct yellow hue. They are prized for their sweet yet tangy flavor, making them ideal for fresh eating and other culinary uses. While Washington growers appreciate the taste, they often struggle with the cherry's susceptibility to rain-induced cracking. Fortunately, the dry climate of most of Montana makes growing Rainier cherries much easier, except in the colder parts of the state.

Cold Hardiness

Rainier Cherry is relatively cold-hardy, and we rank it alongside Stella as the 5th most cold-hardy sweet cherry, following varieties like Gold, Lapins, Black Gold, and White Gold. This variety is hardy to temperatures as low as -30°F (and perhaps even slightly colder), which is comparable to the cold tolerance of other top-performing cherries in the region.

Rootstock and Growth

These Rainier cherries are grafted onto Maxma 14 rootstock. MaxMa 14 is a semi-dwarfing cherry rootstock that produces trees roughly 70–75% the size of a standard Mahaleb tree and about 65–80% the size of a standard Mazzard tree. It is an interspecific hybrid of Prunus mahaleb and Prunus avium. Its moderate vigor makes it a good choice where somewhat smaller trees and closer orchard spacing are desired. Maxma 14 is at least hardy as Rainier, which means that hardiness of the rootstock won't be the limiting factor if Rainier is grafted onto it.

Hardiness

Rainier cherries are hardy to -30°F, making them suitable for colder climates where temperatures can dip significantly, but not to where extremes reach colder than these temps.

Photo credit: “Rainier cherries” by dnak, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Questions we get about Rainier Sweet Cherry

Does Rainier Sweet Cherry need a pollenizer?

Yes. Rainier Sweet Cherry needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Rainier needs a different sweet cherry nearby as a pollenizer. Bing is a classic partner since they bloom together, and self-fertile Stella, Skeena or White Gold also work well. Partners we carry include Bing Cherry, Skeena Sweet Cherry, Stella Sweet Cherry.

How cold hardy is Rainier Sweet Cherry?

We rate Rainier Sweet Cherry hardy to zone 4, which means winters down to about -30°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Rainier Sweet Cherry need?

About 700 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 500 and 900. That figure is well documented: independent sources agree. Needs a moderate amount of chill, which Montana supplies easily. It's hardy to about -30°F, so winter cold is the bigger limit. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

When does Rainier Sweet Cherry ripen?

About Jul 17 to Jul 29 in Missoula, Montana (an estimate built from published sources and our climate). Warmer places run earlier and cooler places later; our ripening map converts the date to your town.

How big does Rainier Sweet Cherry get?

We graft Rainier Sweet Cherry onto MaxMa 14 (semi-dwarf to semi-standard), which makes a tree roughly 14 to 18 ft tall if you never prune it.

What is Rainier Sweet Cherry good for?

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

Is Rainier Sweet Cherry disease resistant?

Not really. It holds up moderately well against bacterial canker. It's prone to powdery mildew and X-disease. Nobody has published solid data on it for brown rot, cherry leaf spot, cytospora canker and little cherry disease yet, so we list those as unknown. Our cherry disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Rainier Sweet Cherry?

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

Pollination partners

Trees that will pollenize Rainier Sweet Cherry

Rainier Sweet 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. 1 in stock now.