Montmorency Tart Cherry

One of the most famous tart cherries and the most widely grown in the U.S., Montmorency is thought to have originated in the Montmorency Valley just north of Paris, where it was named after a noble family that had grown it since the 13th century. French settlers moving up the St. Lawrence River Valley toward the Great Lakes brought it to the New World around 1760—or perhaps earlier.

Cold Hardiness and Legacy

Although the literature on Montmorency does not indicate why it was chosen over other cultivars, we suspect it was because of its cold hardiness. Given how much more temperate Europe is—generally speaking—than Canada, the Great Lakes, and other northern areas where Montmorency was first grown, it's likely that many of the other tart cherry cultivars didn’t survive the harsher winters. Meanwhile, we’ve seen Montmorency growing in solid zone 3 parts of Montana, which would put it on par with many cold-climate-adapted apples.

Fruit & Flavor

Montmorency fruit sweetens as it ripens but remains fairly tart for most people to eat out of hand. However, its flavor and tartness make for spectacular dried cherries. Plant in conjunction with Danube, which is less tart (albeit still a tart cherry), and complements Montmorency in terms of uses. Hardy to zone 3.

Spring 2025 Availability

Our Spring 2025 stock is actually all one year older and grafted onto Mahaleb (we don’t have any of our regular-sized bare roots this year).