'Prunus' Rainier Cherry Tree

Rainier Cherry is an outstanding sweet cherry tree that produces large delicious yellow fruit with a beautiful dark red blush. It's an easy to grow, low maintenance backyard variety that was originally produced by crossing the popular Bing red cherry with the age-old favorite, Van red cherry. Rainier is one of the world's sweetest yellow cherries and is in high demand by home gardeners. It was developed in the Pacific Northwest by Harold Fogel, and was named for the area's highest mountain peak. Like its namesake, Mount Rainer, the Rainier Cherry has reached a mountaintop level of appreciation by cherry lovers! Often called a "white cherry" for its creamy white flesh, or a "blond cherry" for its yellow skin that's blushed red, the Rainier is prized for its exceptionally sweet fruit. It is often considered the best yellow cherry ever developed and is even considered by some to be the best of ALL cherry varieties. This is an early bearing variety, so plan to start enjoying your delicious harvest in mid-season, when other garden treats are just getting started. Rainier is a prolific and heavy bearer, so you'll have plenty of its sweet and healthy cherries to cook, freeze or just eat fresh right off the tree. The thin-skinned fruit typically has a very high sugar content, measuring in at 20 to 25 Brix rates, which are much higher sugar levels than the Bing Cherry or other red cherry selections. It's not just the cherries you'll love. You'll also adore the beautiful spring blooms almost as much as the cherries. The pink tinted, white blossoms are beautifully displayed in spring. In autumn, Rainier puts on another show when its foliage transitions to a fiery red. It's easy to prune Rainier Cherry tree to under 10 feet tall. Called size control pruning, it makes harvesting a lot easier. Requires a cross pollinator.