Amber Heart

Amber Heart, or Kent Bigarreau as it is also widely known, is probably the most commercially important English "white" cherry. It has a pleasant and traditional flavour, noticeably different to modern cherries.

As its alternative name suggests, this variety was the mainstay of Kent cherry orchards during the first half of the 20th century.

"White" cherries are so-named because of their pale white-yellow flesh. The skin colour is usually golden yellow overlaid with orange and red.

Growing and Training

Amber Heart is not self-fertile, but can be pollinated by any of the modern self-fertile varieties - Stella or Sunburst for example.

Although commercially successful in its time, it has been replaced by newer varieties which are less prone to the fruit-cracking and canker problems.

Amber Heart characteristics

• Gardening skillAverage
• Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
• Pollinating othersAverage
• Pick seasonMid
• Picking periodearly July
• Keeping1-3 days
• Food usesEating fresh
• Country of originUnited Kingdom
• Period of origin1900 - 1949
• Fruit colourYellow / Red

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.