More about cherry trees!  It seems that not many of the people who Les has been chatting with were aware that BC plays a prominent part in the world’s evolution of cherries.  BC grows 95% of the cherries in Canada! It seems there are over five thousand acres of cherries here and we produce 16,000 tons of cherries annually! 70% of the world's total cherry production are Canadian Non-GMO varieties. It’s another feather in our BC caps, says Les, and so he pursued the topic for this month’s article.

Cherries arrived in BC in 1892 when 500 trees were planted by Lord and Lady Aberdeen at Vernon's Coldstream Ranch.  It was the construction of the Grey Canal that allowed water loving plants like cherry trees to thrive in the Okanagan Valley.

image from Types of Cherry Trees: Leaves, Flowers, Fruit (Pictures) (leafyplace.com)

BC has three regions which are blessed with ideal conditions: the Okanagan Valley, the Creston  Valley and the Similkameen Valley. 
The Summerland Research Station was established in 1914. Eighty percent of all commercial cherry varieties worldwide have their origins from our Summerland Research Station.  No wonder Les says, "That's pretty impressive!"  Some of their varieties are Stella, Sweetheart, Stacato, Sentennial and Lapins. The Summerland Series Cherries are: Sweetheart, Santina, Skeena, Lapins, Sandra Rose, Sylvia, and Sonnet. Apparently it takes 20 years to develop a new cherry!  It may take 7 years for a tree to grow to maturity. The latest success, Staccato, has helped grow the industry by five times in just 13 years!

In the1930s Little Cherry Disease struck cherry trees across BC. and quarantine measures were put in place.  This disease results in small bitter fruit. In 1969 an orchard in Penticton was infected and by 1977, fourteen hundred cherry trees throughout the Okanagan had to be removed. The Provincial Government continues to monitor for Little Cherry Disease.

In 2014 a trade agreement was made with China and the fruit has become a boom crop. Now orchards are popping up all the time to satisfy local and international demand.

image from: PHOTOS - CANADIAN CHERRIES (bccherry.ca)

We can only hope that changes in climate, which have decimated our BC Okanagan wine crops this past winter, will not have too drastic an effect on our beloved BC cherries.  For now, enjoy those cherry pies!