Cherry variety Garland

The Garland cherry, which appeared relatively recently at the Rossoshansk Zonal Experimental Station of Horticulture, has not yet become widespread. Basically, the culture grows so far in private gardens in the south of the Voronezh region and in the north of the Rostov region. The author of the novelty is A.Ya. Voronchikhina used well-known varieties as parental forms - the Beauty of the North (its history began in 1887) and Zhukovskaya (in the State Register since 1947). Our heroine has been on variety testing since 1988, entered into the State Register in 2000 with an admission in the North Caucasian region. How successful the variety turned out to be is up to the gardeners to judge, we will only try to reveal all its characteristics.

Description

The tree is quite compact, weak or medium-sized, the cherry that has entered the fruiting period rarely overcomes a height of 4 meters, mainly stops at the level of 3.0 - 3.5 meters. The crown is formed by branches with long internodes extending almost at right angles. In terms of crown density, it is medium, rounded, with a lot of foliage. In mature trees, the bole is covered with a gray bark with a cherry sheen. In old cherries, it becomes flaky, slightly rough, and darkens to a gray-black shade. There is no manifestation of longitudinal cracking of the bark, if sometimes this process is observed, then to a very insignificant extent. Lentils are elongated, sometimes very long, wide, convex to the touch, rare location. Changes in the structure of wood in cherry are not observed.

The shoots of the variety are straight, with a red-brown bark, which at the base is covered with longitudinal striping with alternating red-brown and gray-silver stripes. Garland's lentils are light - whitish or light brown, oval in shape, rarely located. Buds of the vegetative type, forming leaves and shoots, have a short-ovate shape with a short-pointed apex, medium size, length 3 - 4 mm, spaced from the shoot. The flower bud is also short-ovoid, with a short-pointed tip, but still more rounded, and smaller in size - 2 - 3 mm long, very rarely up to 4 mm, spaced from the shoot. The leaves are broadly oval, almost round, the tip is sharply pointed, the base can be broadly wedge-shaped or round, the serration is large, double-toothed, especially in the upper half of the plate, the leaf is elastic to the touch. On annual shoots, the length of the leaf blade reaches 8 - 12 cm, the width is 5 - 7 cm. The leaf surface is not pubescent, almost smooth, with a faint shine, moderately or strongly concave along the central vein, a spiral twist relative to the central vein is often observed. Above, the cherry leaf is green, the underside is light grayish green. The central vein is slightly colored with anthocyanin, therefore it has a light crimson color, especially at the base, and is slightly pubescent only in the corners of the lateral veins. The petiole is rather thick and long - 20 - 30 mm, mostly not pubescent or slightly pubescent from above, intense color, brownish-crimson. The glands are also dark-colored, rather large, numbering from 1 to 4. Our heroine does not have stipules.

The inflorescence of the Garland consists of 3 - 5 flowers, quite rarely from 1 - 2. The flowers of the variety are large, 35 - 40 mm in diameter, white, on a long peduncle. The shape of the flower is wide-chained, the corolla is closed or almost closed, the petals are rounded, concave, corrugated at the base. The pistil rises above the stamens by 2 - 3 mm, the length of the stamens is 9 - 12 mm, the length of the pistil together with the ovary is 13 - 15 mm. The tube of the calyx is uncolored, very lumpy, broadly bell-shaped. Sepals are uncolored, concave, shaped like a wide triangle with small denticles along the edge, are the same length as the calyx tube, sometimes slightly longer, bend back and nestle against the calyx, very rarely remain in a horizontal position. The pedicel is unpainted.

The drupe of a cherry is heart-shaped or rounded-conical, a slight narrowing is observed towards the apex, the funnel is small but wide, the apex is flat, with a small shallow depression, the flatness on the sides is medium, the edges are clearly expressed. The fruits of this variety are large in size, with an average weight of 6.1 grams, a height of 22 mm, a width of 24 mm, and a thickness of 22 mm. The elastic skin is dark red in color. The pulp is fleshy, very tender, bright red, with small light streaks. The juice is light red. The taste is refreshing, sweet and sour, quite pleasant. Assessment of tasters 4.2 points. The peduncle is long, almost 5 cm, 1.2 - 1.5 mm thick, it is connected to the stone quite tightly, but when fully ripe, the separation is dry. True, in slightly unripe cherries, a piece of skin with pulp may come off along with the stalk. The Garland has a varietal peculiarity, it is not uncommon for it to have double fruits - twins. Two fruits on one stalk appear due to the presence of two pistils in some flowers at once. The stone is quite large, with an average weight of 0.44 grams, which can amount to 7.2% of the total weight of the fruit. It is quite common in shape, oval or broadly oval, with a rounded apex and a beveled base, which nevertheless often forms a straight line. The fresh seed is light brown with a slight pinkish tinge. It separates from the pulp easily. 100 grams of raw cherry pulp contains: dry soluble substances 10.7 - 19.8%, sugars 8.7 - 14.0%, titratable acids 1.5 - 2.0%, tannins and dyes 0.03 - 0 ,16%.

Variety characteristics

• The variety has a good maturity. If you use antipka as a rootstock, then 3-4 years after planting, our heroine will delight you with the first harvest;
• in terms of ripening, the described variety belongs to the mid-early. In the south of the Central Black Earth Region, berries ripen at the end of June;
• flowering occurs at a later date, so there is no need to fear return frosts;
• the productivity of the culture is good, increasing every year. The yield of the first four years will average 8.7 kg per tree. Cherries that have entered the full fruiting period will increase the yield to 24.7 kg per tree. In the most favorable years, this figure increases many times, and is 55 - 60 kg per tree;
• in the south of the Central Black Earth Region, winter hardiness allows you to grow Garland without fear, because even in the most unfavorable years, freezing did not exceed 2 points. However, the generative buds of the cultivar are less resistant, although in the south of the same region during normal winters, their death was not observed. But in harsh winters, this happened. So, in the winter of 1978 - 1979, when frosts down to -32.2 ° C were recorded in late December - early January, 56.4% of flower buds died. In the winter of 1986 - 1987, with a decrease in February temperatures to -36.7 ° C, 85.0% of the generative buds died;
• immunity is generally good. There is a high resistance of the variety to moniliosis. But the ability to resist coccomycosis depends on the growing conditions and the weather. In ordinary years, in a well-lit and dry place, if the plant is affected by this disease, then the damage does not exceed 1.5 - 2 points. But if the tree grows in a flooded lowland or the year turned out to be very wet, then the level of damage can reach 4 - 5 points;
• drought resistance is insufficient;
• the plant is considered self-fertile, so it does not need additional pollination. But it is still better to have one more cherry in the garden, blooming at the same time as the Garland. From this, the quality of the crop will only increase;
• transportability indicators are low. Soft pulp is not able to withstand long-term transportation. For the same reason, long-term storage is impossible (except for freezing);
• the way of use is universal. Ripe berries are used in their natural form, but still the variety is more suitable for processing.So, for example, compote in appearance is estimated at 4.4 points, in taste - 4.2 points. The jam is very tasty, and juice and wine are also made from the fruits.

Agrotechnics

You can plant a plant in spring or autumn, but you should strictly adhere to the timing and observe the nuances of planting. So, in the spring, the seedling should be planted before the start of sap flow, a feature of planting this season is frequent watering. In autumn, cherries are planted 2 - 3 weeks before the onset of stable cold weather. If the autumn is warm and humid, additional watering can be skipped. Set aside an open, sunny place for planting so that more sugars accumulate in the berries. The main fertilizer in the spring is nitrogen, it will help to quickly build up green mass. In the autumn, only phosphorus and potassium are used, which will help prepare the tree for winter. If autumn is dry, pre-winter watering must be carried out, which also increases the winter hardiness of the tree. Otherwise, the care is usual for the culture as a whole - timely watering, pruning and prevention of diseases and pests. Another condition for the successful development of our heroine is that the soil in the trunk circle must be kept clean.

The garland is convenient for care and harvesting due to its small size, and it does not take up much space in the garden. The culture is very responsive to care, which in principle can be called uncomplicated. Correct agricultural technology is the key to high productivity of the variety. How nice to see a tree that is simply hung with large and juicy fruits. Unfortunately, transportability and keeping quality are low. But from the delicate pulp of cherries, you can make many high-quality blanks. Frost resistance in the recommended region is sufficient, but where it is colder in winter, the tree will have to be insulated.