Anyone tried bush cherry Athos?

[Babru]

Just seen an ad for a fruiting cherry called Athos, supposedly grows only 6 foot tall with super-sweet fruit.

Would make picking and netting (so I get some fruit, not just the birds getting it all) much easier than a tall cherry.

Too good to be true?

[Brack]

I did a search or two, found a pdf for name/variety approval which names the applicant as the university of Saskatchewan. Their previous bush cherries (carmine jewel, Juliet, crimson passion) have a good reputation across the atlantic, but weren't available in Europe until now (lubera have just started stocking them, but at £35 each I'm holding off). Supposedly very productive, self fertile, hardy and good tasting. I've wanted to get hold of a few for a while.

I have a carmine jewel I bought of eBay, presumably from a cutting. It's been in the ground 2.5 years but is still tiny, had a few flowers last year but no fruit.

Athos, Porthos and dartagnan are the three new varieties, I might be tempted to try them at £15 each, even if they are from yougarden. I figure something that is happy in Canada ought to enjoy our north eastern climate...

[jeffk]

yougarden?

@Brack I'm curious, why you wrote "...even if they are from yougarden...". Is there a problem with yougarden.com?

I've just bought an 'Athos' cherry bush from yougarden & it'll be planted out today. I'll post progress updates here, although as the thread is 14 months old, maybe you've already tried one. If so, feel free to let me know how it's going & any problems you might've had.

Cheers

[graninwonderland]

Hi. I have one coming in to its third year. I came on to this forum to try to figure out why it hasn't flowered yet. I'm hoping that it's just that it needs a couple of years to establish itself and that I may get some fruit this year.

[burnie]

It seems to be a relatively new shrub from Canada, lots of information available about planting and pruning, but little information on how long you have to wait. A Spring feed with Blood, Fish and Bone followed by a mulch to retain moisture is recommended.

[smallblueplanet]

Just found this thread, I was thinking of a cherry in a pot. Anyone had fruit from Athos or Porthos, etc!

[smallblueplanet]

Just found this video on bush cherries which is what Athos, Porthos etc are. They sound a bit...just okay.