History: Romeo dwarf sour cherries are one of several dwarf sour cherries developed and released by the University of Saskatchewan with the goal of creating sour cherries that were cold hardy, shorter in stature, and produced good quality fruit. This initiative began in the 1940s and Romeo was released as part of the Romance series in 2004.
Why We Grow It: Romeo boasts very dark red fruit that has a nice sweet-tart flavour and plenty of juiciness. It has a high flesh to pit ratio, making each cherry just that much more enticing. Although the bush only reaches 7-8ft at maturity, it still yields around 25lb of fruit per plant.
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 2
Soil Preference: Sandy loam, loam, clay loam. Prefers average to moist conditions with well-drained soils, avoid planting anywhere that floods for more than two weeks in the spring.
Growth Habits and Disease Resistance: Moderately vigorous and very cold hardy, compact growth habit, produces good crops. Generally disease resistant.
Sun/Shade: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)
Pollination: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without a cherry tree of a different variety but will produce more and better fruit if one is present. Sweet and Sour cherries cannot be relied upon to pollinate each other.
Flowering Time: Middle
Ripens: Late July
Storage: Keeps about a week in the fridge.
Recommended Use: Fresh eating, cooking, juicing
Height including roots: 1 year (20-40cm)