As mentioned in a previous post, after looking through gardening catalogs and at specifically, native fruits, I stumbled onto this photo:
with this description:
Self-pollinating variety grows 6 to 8 ft. tall and bears up to 8 qts. of fruit in July.
Nanking Bush Pie Cherry trees are early and extra productive! Produces sweetly scented spring flowers and tremendous crops of tasty fruit. Bears up to 8 quarts of bright red cherries, ripens in July. Grows 6-8 feet high, looks good in a hurry. For best yield, plant 2 or more.
Cherries are an excellent choice for home gardens. The incredibly juicy, bite-size treats begin to ripen to June- earlier than other tree fruits- and the fruit can be used in so many ways! Many varieties are self-pollinating, too, so you can pick a bountiful crop even if you have room for only one tree.
The first summer here, of course, we were hit with a late frost. The lilacs and this mysterious other bushes along the back fence did nothing but green. I didn’t know the lilacs were lilacs until this last summer. Then, come July these strange red berries appeared a bit after the whitish, pinkish flowers. What were they? I didn’t know and I dared others to try one. Take a little bite. But no one would. Seeing this photo made me sure, indeed, I must have three bushes of nanking cherries (prunus tomentosa).
Info says the seeds are poisonous. One can make wine and, apparently pies and jellies. The question is, do I really have a nanking cherry? I’ll have to wait until July to find out.
