Thus far, the growth winner of my cherry-growing experiment has been the Minnie Royal cherry I bought from Grow Organic:

Growing cherries in Florida? You must be crazy!

I’ve probably gotten three feet of growth on the Minnie Royal. The second happiest tree is the Royal Lee I also bought from them. These two are healthy and happy despite the heat of summer.

Impressive.

As for the trees I bought from Willis Orchards, the Brooks, Tulare and Coral Champagne cherry trees are all moving along, though not nearly as vigorously as the Minnie Royal and the Royal Lee. This may be partly because the latter two trees are located closer to my nursery area and get watered more regularly.

On the almond tree front, things look grim. Two of the trees from Willis Orchards completely kicked off. The Nonpareil and the Ne Plus have gone to the big orchard in the sky. I’m going to ask for replacement trees, however, since their demise wasn’t my fault. I planted and watered both of them regularly… they just failed to ever leaf out at all. The tops were already brown when they arrived but I was hopeful. No dice.

Fortunately, according to the nursery’s replacement policy, the trees are covered:

“If your tree dies within one year of the purchase date, simply return the bottom half of the tree or plant item, within the year, with proof of purchase and a new item will be returned to you, at our cost, at the next recommended planting period. (All returned items must be individually marked and identified or it will not be replaced.) We realize that circumstances occur so that you may misplace the original invoice form that comes on the package, within the span of one year. Therefore, proof of purchase may be a copy of the original invoice form, a copy of your credit card statement, a copy (front and back) of your check payment, or simply include the name and address of the person in which the order was shipped and/or billed.”

I’m glad they have a good return policy as it looks like I’ll be mailing some dead trees in the near future. I really need at least one pollinator for the still-kicking Texas Mission almond.

It will be interesting to see how all these trees go through winter… and if they bloom or even set some fruit in spring. Growing cherries in Florida may not be common… but I don’t think it’s impossible. Yet.

Stay tuned.