Lapins

Lapins is a large dark red juicy cherry with a mild sweet/sharp flavour, and will appeal to those who like cherries but prefer a milder flavour.

It is one of the best cherry varieties for the UK garden, heavy cropping, quite vigorous, and easy to grow.

Lapins is self-fertile and can be considered an improved Stella (which is one of its parents). It is well-regarded by commercial growers because it crops reliably and the fruit is large and of good quality.

Growing and Training

Lapins is one of the modern self-fertile cherries developed in Canada, and a very good pollinator for other early-flowering varieties - its flowering period is typically around 10-12 days ahead of Stella.

It is one of the heavier-cropping cherries, and comes into bearing at an early age - therefore a good choice if you want a large cherry tree on the Colt rootstock.

It grows with a characteristic habit - noticeably more upright than the spreading form of most cherries.

Lapins responds well to fruit thinning and/or measures to encourage growth and leaf production. This improves fruit quality and fruit size.

Lapins requires very little winter chilling hours and is therefore a good variety for warmer climates.

For UK growers, the main requirement is to make sure it is planted in a sheltered spot in full sun.

History

Lapins was developed by Dr. Charles Lapins of the Summerland research station in British Columbia, Canada during the 1960s and 1970s, and released in 1984. It is sometimes known as Cherokee. It was developed from Van x Stella, in the same breeding programme that also led to Sunburst (also Van x Stella).

Lapins characteristics

• Gardening skillBeginner
• Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
• Self-fertile?Self-fertile
• Pollinating othersAverage
• Pick seasonMid
• Keeping1-3 days
• Food usesEating fresh
• Country of originCanada
• Period of origin1950 - 1999
• Fruit colourRed

You might also like these varieties

• 
  Stella
  Stella is perhaps the most popular mid-season red-cherry. Self-fertile and a good pollinator for other cherries.
• 
  Summer Sun
  Summer Sun crops heavily even in poor weather. Partially self-fertile.
• 
  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.