A foreign beauty, the Bessey cherry, can increasingly be seen on the plots of summer residents and city flower beds. Its decorative appearance and incredible productivity were inherited from the sand cherry, originally from North America. Unpretentious and accustomed to harsh conditions, the shrub easily takes root in the steppe and forest-steppe regions of our country.
History of origin
A fairly common low sand cherry shrub can be found in South and North America both in the wild and in garden plots. A very unpretentious and beautiful plant often plays the role of a hedge. Lush long flowering in the spring (about three weeks) and bright red foliage in the fall make this crop a frequent resident in flower beds and gardens. The fruits are not used for food because of their unpleasant bitter-tart taste, but are suitable for animal feed.
Professor of botany Charles Bessey, at the end of the 19th century, drew attention to one of the subspecies of sand cherries with more tasty and sweet fruits. He described this plant and began breeding work. Through his efforts, several varieties with improved taste were developed.
Subsequently, American breeders became interested and continued working with the shrub, which was named after the scientist Bessey's cherry.
Description of the variety
This stone fruit crop was called cherry due to the similarity of the fruit, but Bessey’s closer relatives are plums. In the description of the variety, botanists classify it as a member of the Microcherry genus. Plum, cherry plum, apricot, and peaches are suitable for cross-pollination. Ordinary cherries are not crossed with sand cherry varieties and are not grafted.
Appearance
The main decoration of the plant is its elegant, dense leaves with a silvery tint. In spring, the bushes erupt with white lace of small flowers, and this splendor lasts for about three weeks. In autumn, the foliage turns red and stays on the branches until frost. In the first years, the branches stretch upward, usually reaching a height of no more than 1.2-1.5 m. Bushes at the age of 6-7 years take a recumbent form.
Throughout the growing season, Bessey’s cherry will decorate the site with its “foreign” decorative appearance.
Fruit
The size of the fruits can vary, from very small - 1.5-2 g, to medium - 2.5-3 g. The pulp is juicy, greenish, often with red veins. The taste of Bessey may also vary. Specimens with sweet drupes without bitterness are prized. But, unfortunately, often seedlings even from good-tasting fruits grow and produce tart, bitter fruits.
Breeders still have a lot of work to do to consolidate beneficial varietal properties. The fruits lack the classic cherry sourness and resemble the taste of chokeberry.
Productivity
What the Bessey cherry can boast of is its amazing yield. The branches are annually covered with fruits; each adult bush usually yields at least 5-8 kg of drupes. The fruits do not fall off; ripe cherries that have been waiting to be picked may wilt a little, but this makes the taste sweeter and the astringency decreases. Flexible branches easily fall under the weight of the harvest, so it is advisable to install a support before loading the fruit.
Requirements for climatic conditions
Bessey cherry is valued for its frost resistance and drought resistance. In its homeland, it feels great where other stone fruits are not able to grow and bear fruit. Flexible and often recumbent branches easily survive severe frosts under a layer of snow. And later, in comparison with other drupes, flowering allows you to avoid spring freezing of the ovary.
Features of cultivation
Bessey cherry came to us from distant North America, where it grows mostly in arid areas with rocky and sandy soils. Therefore, when caring for plants, you have to be guided by several rules based on the genetic expectations of this species.
Choosing a landing site
A sunny, elevated site is the main condition for the normal growth of Bessey cherry.The plant does not tolerate shading and excess soil moisture. Even short-term spring stagnation of water in the soil leads to heating of the bushes. The soil should easily allow moisture to pass through; sandy and sandy loam soils are desirable. In some cases, it is better to lay an additional drainage layer under the future planting.
Landing
Bessey cherry cuttings are planted in early spring, less often in autumn. Soil preparation consists of saturating it with humus and sand. For spring planting, it is better to prepare the holes in the fall. Although the plant is famous for its unpretentiousness in choosing soils, sandy loam soil with an admixture of humus and compost will be gratefully accepted by the Bessey shrub.
The seedlings are placed at a distance of 1.5-2 m. It is better to form a small mound for each, which will additionally protect them from rotting.
It is easy to grow this type of “microcherry” by sowing fresh or overwintered seeds in moist soil. Besseya is characterized by high seed germination; usually more than half of the seeds are produced by healthy seedlings. After germination, the plant quickly forms a developed root and does not require complex care. In the second year, the seedlings are ready to be transplanted to a permanent location.
Advice. It is better to plant more seeds in order to then select specimens with berries of acceptable taste.
Care
Bessey cherry is unpretentious and undemanding in care, we list the main activities:
- watering and fertilizing;
- loosening and weeding;
- bush formation (pruning).
The shrub owes its frost resistance largely to its ability to fall to the ground under the weight of snow. In winters with little snow, it makes sense to shovel the snow yourself to avoid exposure and freezing of branches.
Watering and fertilizing
Bessey cherry easily tolerates drought, but lack of water can affect the quality of the fruit.Therefore, 2-3 waterings per season are recommended, after flowering and during fruit ripening. Complex mineral fertilizing is applied in early spring. In the fall, shallow digging is carried out with the addition of humus and compost. 2-3 complex mineral foliar feedings per season are useful.
Loosening and weeding
The root system of the Bessey cherry is shallow and does not tolerate oxygen deprivation. After each watering, shallow loosening of the soil is recommended. Regular removal of weeds will prevent most possible plant diseases.
Important. Plantings of Bessey shrubs littered with grass suffer from shading and are susceptible to overheating and infection.
Bush formation
The main harvest is formed from last year's growth. Branches older than 4-5 years branch poorly, bear almost no fruit, and are prone to falling off. Therefore, the formation of a bush consists of annual rejuvenation of the plant, pruning old branches of the Bessey cherry.
After planting, young seedlings are cut off the upper part of the main branch in order to immediately provoke the growth of side shoots. Healthy cherries do not form shoots; sometimes a heavily frozen old bush can produce several root shoots for rejuvenation. Parts of the plant that are frozen after winter are undoubtedly cut off; Besseya will quickly produce new healthy shoots.
Reproduction
Bessey's cherry does not sprout, so propagation occurs through seedlings from seeds or layering. Seed germination is very good. Seedlings already form a full-fledged root system in the first year, and the first flowering is possible in the second year.
Important. Unfortunately, seedlings often do not retain the good taste of the parent bushes, so selection will have to be made.
To form layering, you need to bend the branch, secure it with a pin and sprinkle it with damp soil. It will take root very quickly and will be ready to be transplanted to a permanent location.
Bessey cherry has proven to be an excellent rootstock for plum, peach, felt cherry and other stone fruits. The root of the bush is located on the surface and has a weak “anchor”. Therefore, for heavy scions it is necessary to construct a support. Bessey cherry easily crosses with various varieties of plums, forming a cherry plum hybrid. Such a plant has a more powerful root, and it is used as a rootstock. The hybrid reproduces only by layering, since seedlings from the seed will carry the genes of only one of the parents.
Hybrids of Bessey with cherry plum and felt cherry are characterized by increased productivity and good resistance to difficult climatic conditions.
Diseases and pests
Bessey cherry has shown to be resistant to stone fruit diseases. The risk of infections increases if planting conditions and care rules are not observed:
- high humidity;
- heavy clay soils;
- insufficient lighting;
- poor ventilation;
- rare weeding;
- stagnation of melt water, close occurrence of groundwater.
A serious disease in rainy years is hole spot (clusterosporiasis). The fight against infection is carried out by spraying the bushes with Bordeaux mixture before and after flowering. Foliar copper-containing fertilizers are useful. Planted on an elevated, open, sunny site, Bessey will delight gardeners with a healthy appearance and an annual bountiful harvest. In general, the culture for our country is young and promising. Much breeding work remains to secure a subspecies with good taste.
