Considered the sweetest of all cherries and certainly one of my favorites, yummy Rainier cherries are recognized by their yellow skin with a scarlet blush.  They are a cross between the Bing and Van cultivars and were developed  in 1952 at Washington State University by a scientist named Harold Fogle. Their name pays homage to Washington State’s tallest mountain, majestic Mt. Rainier at 14,409 ft.

On March 1, Hubby and I celebrated a new month by buying a semi-dwarf Rainier cherry tree or Prunus avium ‘Rainier’ from one of our favorite local nurseries. We discussed purchasing a Lapins cherry tree, but ended up selecting the Rainier and planted it as an anchor in the new bed by the chicken mansion.

This young tree will mature to 15′ tall and 10′ wide in this sunny spot. We hope for years of sweet blossoms, delicious large fruit, and nice fall color from this addition. This mouthwatering image is from groworganic.com:

We’re prepared to shop for another cherry tree for pollination purposes or just may live dangerously and see what this first summer holds. Sometimes Rainier trees bear fruit without a designated pollinator, so since we have other possible pollinators near Coppertop, we will wait and see, prepared to buy a Bing or Lapins tree to plant in a spot nearby if needed. Perhaps we have a pie-in-the-sky hope — cherry pie, that is.