Kordia

Kordia is a new black cherry variety, which has quickly become popular with both commercial growers and gardeners on account of the large fruit size, glossy black skin, and excellent flavour,

Kordia cherries are also resistant to the splitting caused by summer rain.

If you want a cherry that is very big, and really black, this is the one to choose!

Growing and Training

Kordia is not self-fertile and therefore needs a pollination partner. Any self-fertile cherry variety will be suitable, particularly Stella and Sweetheart. You can also use Penny (another black cherry), Regina, or Summer Sun.

It blossoms quite late but the blossom is not particularly frost-resistant, so it is best grown in a sheltered area, or at the top of a slope where frost can drain away downwards.

It has a fairly low-chill requirement of 700-750 hours, making it a useful variety for warmer climates.

Kordia was awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2014, which should mean it is an excellent all-round garden cherry variety. However in our experience Kordia can sometimes be problematic, but if you are a confident gardener it is worth considering, because the cherries are a delight.

History

Kordia is a chance seedling of unknown parentage, found near Techlovice in the Czech Republic in the 1960s. It is also known as Attika and Techlovika II.

Kordia characteristics

• Gardening skillExperienced
• Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
• Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
• Pollinating othersAverage
• Pick seasonLate
• Keeping1-3 days
• Food usesEating fresh
• Country of originCzech Republic
• Period of origin1950 - 1999
• Fruit colourBlack

You might also like these varieties

• 
  Lapins
  A popular red mid-season cherry which is easy to grow. Self-fertile.
• 
  Stella
  Stella is perhaps the most popular mid-season red-cherry. Self-fertile and a good pollinator for other cherries.
• 
  Sunburst
  A large red mid-season cherry with a good sweet mild flavour. Self-fertile.
• 
  Sweetheart
  One of the best-flavoured late-season cherries for the UK climate. Self-fertile.

More about cherry trees

Sweet cherries are easy to grow as long as you have a sunny sheltered spot. The main challenge is to keep the birds off - use a net or horticultural fleece to cover the tree or at least some of the branches in late spring.

If you only have space for one cherry tree make sure it is a self-fertile one. We highlight these on our website - look for Stella, Sweetheart, Sunburst, or Lapins.Self-fertile cherry trees are also good pollinators for the more traditional English cherry varieties.

Sweet cherries are often categorised by colour. Red cherries have red or skins and light red flesh, and nearly all the self-fertile cherries are in this category. So-called 'white' cherries usually have pale red or pink or white skins and pale flesh. So-called 'black' cherries usually have dark red or black skins.

Sweet cherries are also categorised by their picking season. Early season equates to mid / late June in southern England. Mid-season is late June / early July. Late-season is mid-July onwards.