Sweetheart has all the characteristic flavour elements of a good sweet cherry, predominantly sweet, but not at all sugary, with an underlying hint (no more than that) of bitter sharpness. The flavour is arguably richer than is usual amongst cherries. To get the best flavour, pick when fully ripe and eat immediately. We think all sweet cherries are best when eaten slightly cool, but not chilled.
Sweetheart is also self-fertile, and ripens quite late in the cherry season. Another unusual characteristic is that the picking period is longer than most, because ripening is uneven - meaning you don't get the inevitable glut which is a feature of other varieties.
**All prices include delivery. We offer a discount on orders of multiple bare-root trees for delivery at the same time - this will be shown at the checkout.
Delivery period: Pot-grown trees can be delivered from September onwards. Bare-root trees can be delivered from mid-November onwards. Within those periods you can specify your preferred month of delivery during the checkout process. It is best to order as soon as you can to ensure items are reserved for you.
*Mature heights: Height shown is the approximate height of the tree when mature (after 5-10 years), not the height when supplied. See photos of trees as supplied. Actual mature heights may vary considerably dependent on your local conditions and training and pruning regime.
Stock availability: Items showing as 'sold out' will probably be available again next season. If you would like to reserve in advance use our enquiry form - this does not commit you to anything.
Sweetheart is self-fertile and does not need a pollination partner, although fruiting may be improved if there is a compatible tree of a different variety nearby. Since it flowers in the middle of the blossom season it can be pollinated by most other cherry trees.
Our online pollination checker lists suitable pollination partners for this variety.
More advice about pollination.
Sweetheart is a precocious sweet cherry, and starts to bear fruit relatively young - you may get fruit within a 2-3 of years of planting, whereas most cherries will start to bear fruit after about 3-4 years.
Planting instructions.
Pruning instructions.
Summerland Research Station, Canada 1990, a cross between Van and Newstar.
