PlantFiles: Nanking Bush Cherry
Prunus tomentosa

What a find! Obviously delivered by a bird, it established itself in the worst trouble spot in my yard as a seedling last spring, grew over summer/fall to over 5 feet in height and now, just after 12 months is blooming profusely.

Flying in the face of the “full sun” requirement it is thriving in almost complete shade at the north wall of our house under a roof overhang, where it only gets a sliver of sunlight after 6 pm April to August. Globe cedars withered away there, because rain doesn’t get there and the sprinklers are turned of October to April. Hollyberries grow only very slowly under these conditions and even hydrangea behave very sluggishly. – Not so the Nanking Bush Cherry.

For those who doubt my plant ID, I will attempt to post some pictures beside Miriam’s, as soon as I find time to figure out how to upload to this site.

II had these plants 25 years ago but they did not have enough sun light. however they did alright. After seeing a hugh bush up here in towanda,pa i ordered 10 of them.I saw a very large bush full of cherries .. It was impressive.if this was not so sluggish i would write more.

I am soooo excited! I didn't know the cherries were edible! This is the first year I had cherries and I am going to TRY to make a pie with my harvest from 2 bushes (will be planting more bushes!) On HARVESTING.....picking one cherry at a time was a pain so I gently rubbed the cherries and they fell on the ground. Then I picked them up from there. So much easier!

fruits are small but plentiful, and compared to truly sweet cherries these are much more sour/tart than sweet, but still have a nice taste.

Oddly apart from the sour, they have a flavor more similar to the "lifesaver" cherry flavor than any other type of cherry I've tasted.

I always wondered if that lifesaver cherry flavor had a basis in a real cherry LOL now I know.

I can see why people like to use it for jam. I'm going to go pick mine and try to make cherry jelly instead.

I originally planted two of these bushes here in Atlanta, GA. These have done well and are now about eight feet tall. The two bushes have produced enough cherries each year to make a batch of cherry preserves 6-8 half pints. They produce a delicious mildly tart flavored jam. As soon as the cherries appear, you must protect the bushes with netting. The first year they produced, the birds cleaned out the entire crop in a 24 hour period.
I was so pleased with the original bushes I ordered two more and planted them beside the others. The two new plants have not done well and have not produced any fruit after two years. I am not sure of the problem. We have rabbits and Japanese beetles so that may be the problem. I am looking for information on pruning these plants because they are getting too high. Any help with this information would be appreciated.

They have grown great here in Ky. I have had bumper crops year after year. We have eaten them right out of hand. They love well composted rich soil.

My cherrys are now 7 years old and they are getting BIG cherrys on them.I can eat them and have flesh instead of all pit!! 1/4 in flesh I thought that was good!!!
I was wondering if they need any special things- pruning- fertlizer. ect. to make them p roduce bigger fruit.

I planted 4 1-foot tall bushes last spring and all are doing great. Two have had a few blooms on them - one last summer and one this spring.

I doubt they will produce any fruits this year, but am now wondering how soon they will start to produce them. I had expected it to take a few years to even get flowers on them.

Rabbits love to eat these so I cut chicken fencing to a hight of about 2 feet and placed it around each bush. The rabbits got their revenge though and nearly destroyed one of my spirea!

I planted two of these in the spring of 2006. They were about a foot and a half tall. One died but the other hung on. I planted another one to replace the dead one and it is hanging on too, but both are not doing well.

The one planted first had 3 blossoms on it last spring before the freeze but neither one seemed to grow last summer. They both had leaves on them, so I know they are still alive, but didn't show any sign of new growth. Are they slow growers?

I love cherries so I am hoping these two will do well.

This plant is a FAVORITE of Japanese beetles. Also requires cross pollination to achieve fruit.

This does quite well for me too. Gorgeous when in bloom and now it is loaded with cherries. Well, it was loaded until I got out there and picked them. Birds nest in it each year too.

Grows great for me here, the fruit is very good, although smaller than a regular cherry tree.

Also called Manchu cherry, mountain cherry, Mongolian cherry, downy cherry and Chinese bush cherry.