Penny

Penny is a large firm black English cherry with an excellent flavour.

It is one of a number of new varieties which are very late ripening - mid to late August - making it a good choice for extending the fresh cherry season.

Growing and Training

Penny is not self-fertile, so it needs a pollination partner and should not be planted as your only cherry tree - but any other self-fertile variety should be compatible. Commercial growers also use Kordia (another black cherry), Regina, Summer Sun, Skeena, Sweetheart, and Sunburst.

This variety is well-suited to the Gisela 5 rootstock.

History

Whilst much of the development of new cherry varieties over the last 5 decades has taken place in Canada, Penny was developed at East Malling Research in the UK by K. Tobutt, and released in 1998.

Penny characteristics

• Gardening skillAverage
• Fruit persistenceNormal ripening
• Self-fertile?Not self-fertile
• Pollinating othersAverage
• Pick seasonVery late
• Keeping1-3 days - keep in a fridge
• Food usesEating fresh
• Country of originUnited Kingdom
• 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.