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Surefire Cherry on Mahaleb (Spring 2026)

You are viewing a tree that will ship in Spring 2026. You can also find trees for Spring 2025.

An late-season pie cherry from the Cornell breeding station. Also known as NY 12716.

The tree is medium vigor, with an upright and open, wide-angled habit that is both easy to maintain and well suited for U-pick production. Surefire™ is cold hardy to zone 4 and avoids much frost damage with its late bloom–four-seven days after Montmorency. This cultivar is reliably self-fertile and will be productive in its third year after planting. It is somewhat resistant to canker and brown rot (the latter largely because of the late bloom, which also avoids wet weather).

Surefire™ is the first tart cherry produced by Cornell's breeding station at Geneva, NY. Ripening about two weeks after Montmorency, the fruit is a Morello-type cherry, with red skin and red flesh. Surefire™ is firmer than that of most tart cherries. This is a great problem-free pie cherry for the back yard or the small orchard.

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$40.25

37 in stock
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The tree is medium vigor, with an upright and open, wide-angled habit that is both easy to maintain and well suited for U-pick production. Surefire™ is cold hardy to zone 4 and avoids much frost damage with its late bloom–four-seven days after Montmorency. This cultivar is reliably self-fertile and will be productive in its third year after planting. It is somewhat resistant to canker and brown rot (the latter largely because of the late bloom, which also avoids wet weather).

Surefire™ is the first tart cherry produced by Cornell's breeding station at Geneva, NY. Ripening about two weeks after Montmorency, the fruit is a Morello-type cherry, with red skin and red flesh. Surefire™ is firmer than that of most tart cherries. This is a great problem-free pie cherry for the back yard or the small orchard.


The Fruit

Fruit Type

Category: Cherry
Subcategory: Tart/Pie, Self-Fertile

Fruit Uses & Storage

Uses: fresh eating, jam, baking, canning, freezing, jelly, sauce
Storage duration: less than one month (approximate, depending on storage conditions)

Fruit Appearance

Skin color: red
Flesh color: red

Fruit Origins

Parentage: Borchert Black Sour x (Richmorency x Schattenmorelle)
Origin: Geneva, New York
Introduced in: 1999
Introduced by: NYSAES; Cornell University

The Environment

Calendar & Geography

USDA zones: 4 - 8
Chill hours: Not yet determined
Ripening date: Jul 19 (approximate, in New York State) + 14 days after Montmorency

Tree Height & Spacing

Rootstock: Mahaleb Rootstock
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (60% of Standard)
Tree spacing: See details
Good for wildlife planting? N

Diseases & Pests

Brown Rot, Blossom Blight, Fruit Rot: Resistant
Bacterial Canker of Stone Fruit: Resistant

Pollination

Pollination Factors

Bloom group:
Is it self-fertile? Y
Is it fertile?
Ploidy: Diploid
Rootstock size class: Half-Standard (60% of Standard)

Pollination Partners

This table shows the first few results from a full search for pollenizers of Surefire Cherry on Mahaleb. 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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