Cherry (Sour), Jubileum, Bare Root

Jubileum Cherry (Prunus cerasus)

Jubileum is a Hungarian sweet-tart cherry with dark red skin and red juice. It offers a richer fresh-eating possibility than many pie cherries while retaining enough acidity for pies and preserves.

Key Characteristics

A dark-juiced tart cherry

The Morello-type fruit colors both skin and juice deep red. Its sweet-tart balance makes it useful in juice, jam, wine, and baked dishes.

An early tart-cherry harvest

Jubileum generally ripens early within the tart-cherry season. Taste as color deepens; full skin color can precede the best balance of sugar and acidity.

Pollination can improve the crop

This Hungarian type is partly self-fertile, but a compatible pollen source can improve set. Plan pollination as well as ordinary leaf-spot and brown-rot care.

Pollination Partners

Partly self-fertile. A compatible sweet cherry such as Stella can improve fruit set where bloom overlaps; it does not need to ripen at the same time. Cross-pollination depends on overlapping bloom, not matching harvest months.

Rootstock and Mature Size

Plan for approximately 12–18 feet at maturity, depending on site and pruning. The offered variant identifies the rootstock; keep the graft union above soil level and remove rootstock suckers.

Product Details

• Sun: Full sun to light partial shade; full sun is best for fruiting.
• Soil: medium to medium-dry, well-drained soil; avoid standing water.
• Mature height: Approximately 12–18 feet; see rootstock and pruning guidance above.
• Bloom: Mid-season spring; white flowers.
• Fruit: Dark red tart cherries with red juice and a comparatively sweet sweet-tart flavor.
• Uses: Pies, jam, juice, wine, and fresh tasting when fully ripe.
• Ripening: June–July
• Chill hours: A reliable cultivar-specific chill-hour requirement has not been confirmed.
• Pollination: Partly self-fertile; another compatible cherry can improve fruit set.
• USDA hardiness: Zones 5–8.

General Cherry Orchard Guidance

A good start

Choose well-drained soil and enough room for the mature tree. Water consistently while roots establish, mulch with space around the trunk, and keep vigorous grass and other competitors away from the young root zone.

Fertility and fruit-tree guilds

Use a soil test to guide lime and fertilizer rather than feeding heavily by default. Our Tree Planting Kit fertilizer blend is an optional planting supplement; keep concentrated fertilizer away from bare roots and avoid excess nitrogen.

Interested in permaculture and stacking functions around your fruit trees? Explore our fruit-tree guild guide for ideas on combining plants for flowers, ground cover, and mulch while giving your tree room to grow.

Practical pest and disease care

Prune in dry weather for an open crown and remove damaged or mummified fruit. Monitor for brown rot, leaf spot, aphids, and spotted wing drosophila near ripening; harvest promptly and use fine insect netting where practical. Birds also enjoy cherries, so plan wildlife-safe exclusion before fruit colors.