Description of the Bessey sand cherry variety, reproduction, planting and care
A foreign beauty, Bessey's cherry, can increasingly be seen on the plots of summer residents and city flower beds. Its decorative appearance and incredible yield are inherited from the North American sand cherry. Unpretentious and accustomed to harsh conditions, the shrub easily takes root in the conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe regions of our country.
History of origin
A fairly common shrub of low sandy cherry can be found in South and North America both in the wild and in garden areas. A very unpretentious and beautiful plant often plays the role of a hedge. Lush, long flowering in spring (about three weeks) and bright red foliage in autumn make this crop a frequent inhabitant of flower beds and gardens. The fruits are not used for food because of the unpleasant bitter-tart taste, but they are suitable for animal feed.
At the end of the 19th century, professor of botany Charles Bessey drew attention to one of the subspecies of sand cherries with tastier and sweeter fruits. He described this plant and began breeding work. Through his labors, several varieties were bred with improved taste.
In the future, American breeders became interested and continued to work with the shrub, which was named after the scientist Bessey cherry.
Description of the variety
Cherry, this stone fruit culture was named for the similarity of fruits, but Bessey's closer relatives are plums. In the description of the variety, botanists reckon it to the genus Mikrovishnya. Plum, cherry plum, apricot, peaches are suitable for cross-pollination. Common cherry is not crossed with sandy varieties and is not grafted.
Appearance
The main decoration of the plant is graceful, dense leaves with a silvery sheen. In spring, the bushes boil with white lace of small flowers, and this splendor lasts for about three weeks. In the fall, the foliage turns red in unison and stays on the branches until the frost. In the first years, the branches stretch upward, usually reaching a height of no more than 1.2-1.5 m. Bushes at the age of 6-7 years take a recumbent form.
Throughout the growing season, Bessey's cherry will decorate the site with its "foreign" decorative appearance.
Fruit
The size of the fruits can be different, from very small - 1.5-2 g, to medium - 2.5-3 g. The pulp is juicy, greenish, often with red veins. Bessei's taste can also vary. Specimens with sweet drupes without bitterness are appreciated. But, unfortunately, often even from fruits of good taste, seedlings grow and give tart, bitter fruits.
Breeders still have a lot of work to do to consolidate the beneficial varietal properties.The fruits are devoid of classic cherry sourness, they resemble the taste of chokeberry.
Yield
What the Bessey cherry can boast of is its amazing yield. The branches are covered with fruits annually, each adult bush usually leaves at least 5-8 kg of drupes. The fruits do not crumble, ripe cherries that have been waiting for picking may wilt a little, but this makes the taste sweeter and the astringency decreases. Flexible branches easily fall off under the weight of the crop, therefore, it is advisable to install a support even before pouring the fruits.
Requirements for climatic conditions
Bessey cherry is valued for its frost resistance and drought resistance. At home, she feels great where other stone fruits are not able to grow and bear fruit. Flexible and often recumbent branches easily survive severe frosts under a layer of snow. And later, in comparison with other drupes, flowering avoids spring freezing of the ovary.
Growing features
Bessey cherry came to us from distant North America, where it grows mostly in arid regions with rocky and sandy soils. Therefore, in caring for plants, several rules have to be followed, based on the genetic expectations of this species.
Choosing a landing site
A sunny elevated area is the main condition for the normal growth of Bessei cherry. The plant does not tolerate shading and excessive soil moisture. Even a short spring stagnation of water in the soil leads to the heating of the bushes. The soil should easily pass moisture; sandy and sandy loam soils are desirable. In some cases it is better to lay an additional drainage layer under the future planting.
Landing
Planting of Bessey cherry cuttings is carried out in early spring, less often in autumn. Soil preparation consists in saturation with humus and sand. For spring planting, it is better to prepare pits in the fall. Although the plant is famous for its unpretentiousness in the choice of soil, sandy loam soil with an admixture of humus and compost will be gratefully accepted by the Bessey shrub.
The seedlings are placed at a distance of 1.5-2 m. For each, it is better to form a small mound, which will additionally save from rotting.
It is not difficult to grow this kind of "micro cherry" by sowing fresh or overwintered seeds in moist soil. Besseya is distinguished by high seed germination, usually more than half of the seeds give healthy seedlings. After germination, the plant quickly forms a developed root and does not require complex care. In the second year, the seedlings are ready for transplanting to a permanent place.
Council. It is better to plant more seeds in order to then select specimens with berries of an acceptable taste.
Care
Cherry Bessey is unpretentious and undemanding in care, we list the main activities:
- watering and fertilizing;
- loosening and weeding;
- bush formation (pruning).
The shrub owes its frost resistance in many respects to the property of falling to the ground under the weight of snow. In winters with little snow, it makes sense to scoop up the snow on your own to avoid exposing and freezing the branches.
Watering and fertilizing
Bessey cherries easily tolerate droughts, but lack of water can affect the quality of the fruit. Therefore, 2-3 waterings per season are recommended, after flowering and during fruit ripening. Complex mineral dressing is applied in early spring. In autumn, shallow digging is carried out with the addition of humus and compost. Useful 2-3 complex mineral foliar dressing per season.
Loosening and weeding
The root system of Bessey cherry is located shallow and does not tolerate oxygen starvation. Shallow loosening of the soil is recommended after each watering. Regular removal of weeds will prevent most possible plant diseases.
Important.The plantings of the Bessey bush littered with grass suffer from shading, are susceptible to heating and infection.
Bush formation
The main crop is formed on the basis of last year's growth. Branches more than 4-5 years old do not branch well, barely bear fruit, and tend to fall off. Therefore, the formation of the bush consists in the annual rejuvenation of the plant, pruning old branches from the Bessey cherry.
After planting, young seedlings are cut off the upper part of the main branch in order to immediately provoke the growth of lateral shoots. Healthy cherries do not form shoots, sometimes a heavily frozen old bush can give several root suckers for rejuvenation. The parts of the plant that have frozen after winter are undoubtedly cut off, Besseya will quickly give new healthy shoots.
Reproduction
Besseya's cherry does not give growth, therefore, reproduction occurs at the expense of seedlings from seeds or layers. Seed germination is very good. Seedlings form a full-fledged root system already in the first year, and the first flowering is possible in the second year.
Important. Unfortunately, seedlings often do not retain the good taste of their parent plants, so selection will have to be made.
To form layering, you need to bend the branch, secure it with a hairpin and sprinkle with damp earth. It will take root very quickly and will be ready to be transplanted to a permanent place.
Besseya cherry proved to be an excellent rootstock for plums, peaches, felted cherry and other stone fruits. The root of the shrub is located on the surface and has a weak anchoring. Therefore, for heavy scions, the construction of a support is necessary. Bessey cherry easily crosses with various varieties of plums, forming a cherry plum hybrid. In such a plant, the root is more powerful, and it is used as a rootstock. The hybrid propagates only by layering, since seedlings from the seed will carry the genes of only one of the parents.
Bessey's hybrids with cherry plum and felt cherry are distinguished by increased productivity and good resistance to difficult climatic conditions.
Diseases and pests
Bessey's cherry has shown itself to be resistant to stone fruit diseases. The risk of infections increases if the planting conditions and care rules are not followed:
- high humidity;
- heavy clay soils;
- insufficient illumination;
- poor ventilation;
- rare weeding;
- stagnation of melt water, close occurrence of groundwater.
A serious disease in rainy years is perforated spotting (clasterosporium disease). The fight against infection is carried out by spraying the bushes with Bordeaux liquid before and after flowering. Foliar copper-containing dressings are useful. Planted on an elevated, open, sunny Besseya plot will delight gardeners with a healthy look and an annual bountiful harvest. In general, the culture for our country is young and promising. There is a lot of breeding work to consolidate a subspecies with good taste.
