A very beautiful heirloom apple that stores well.
BlackPearl® Cherry on Krymsk 6 (Spring 2026)
You are viewing a tree that will ship in Spring 2026. You can also find trees for Spring 2025.
An early sweet cherry with large, firm fruit. Also known as NY 8139.
This cherry tree is hardy, vigorous, and very productive. It is also canker resistant. Black Pearl® is not self-fertile and will require another early or midseason blooming sweet cherry tree as a pollenizer. We recommend either Sweetheart™, Stardust™ or Whitegold®, all of which are "universal pollenizers" with compatible bloom times. The fruit ripens early–about ten days before Bing–and has a very low incidence of cracking. The fruit flavor is outstanding. Black Pearl® is a delicious, sweet treat (about 20% sugar) that is also exceptionally firm and stores well. It is large and, as its name suggests, very dark in color.
The "Pearl Series" of cherries was developed at Cornell University under Bob Andersen and Susan Brown. This is the earliest ripening cherry of the series.
Photo courtesy of Whiffletree Nursery, Ontario, CA.
The Fruit
Fruit Type
Category: Cherry
Subcategory:
Crack-Resistant, Sweet
Fruit Uses & Storage
Uses: fresh eating, jam, baking, canning, freezing, jelly
Storage duration: less than one month (approximate, depending on storage conditions)
Fruit Appearance
Skin color: red
Flesh color: red
Fruit Origins
Parentage: Vernon x a University of California breeding selection
Origin: Geneva, NY
Introduced in: 2008
Introduced by: NYSAES; Dr. Bob Andersen and Dr. Susan Brown
The Environment
Calendar & Geography
USDA zones: 5 - 8
Chill hours: Not yet determined
Ripening date: Jun 11 (approximate, in New York State) 9 days before Bing
Tree Height & Spacing
glossary
Rootstock: Krymsk 6 Rootstock
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (65% of Standard)
Tree spacing: See details
Good for wildlife planting? N
Diseases & Pests
glossary
Bacterial Canker of Stone Fruit: Resistant
Pollination
Pollination Factors
glossary
Bloom group:
Is it self-fertile? N
Is it fertile? Y
Ploidy: Diploid
Rootstock size class:
Half-Standard (65% of Standard)
Pollination Partners
Sweet cherries are not part of our search tool given various complexities. Please see our Pollenizer Search to run other queries and read how the application uses various factors. Also read more about fruit tree pollination.
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