The Littlest Stone Fruit

SWEET OR SOUR, WILD OR ORNAMENTAL, CHERRIES COME IN MANY VARIETIES AND THEY TASTE AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK

- Melissa King

When it comes to cherries, I don’t have a stop button; I could eat a whole bowlful and still be left wanting more.

Cherries are nature’s dessert: round, sweet and divine, eaten fresh from the tree or enjoyed in cheesecakes, pies, puddings, sauces and delectable summer cocktails and desserts.

Among fruiting trees, sweet cherries (Prunus avium) rate highly in the looks department with their pretty, serrated dark-green foliage, attractive reddish brown bark, gorgeous spring blossoms and vibrant autumn foliage colour in all the sunset tones.

All that, plus you get the bonus of a delicious crop of summer fruit jampacked with healthy antioxidants.

CHERRY PICKING

Most trees grow to around 4m tall and 3m wide, so they make a lovely addition to urban backyard orchards and smaller gardens.

Early orchardists grew rows of ‘Burgsdorf’, the colonial cherry, and for good reason: it’s one of the earliest varieties to fruit and produces deep-red cherries with wonderful flavour.

You’ll also love the heritage ‘Bedford’ cherry tree, dripping with clusters of big, sweet near-black fruit. ‘Simone’ is another poster girl for large, black heart-shaped cherries.