Illustrative photo.
Prunus avium 'REGINA' sweet (bigarreau) cherry
usual height
3-8m
usual width
2-7m
leaves
deciduous broadleaf
flowers
showy
blooming time
April
location
full sun
soil type
acidic (peaty) to neutral
soil moisture requirements
evenly moist but well-drained
USDA zone (lowest)
5 (down to -29°C)
categorized
Prunus
Sweet cherry is a fruit tree native to Europe and western Asia; Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) codified its botanical name, bringing order to the tangle of fruit‑tree nomenclature. Fruiting cherry trees are commonly grouped by harvest timing and flesh texture: early heart cherries (juicy, clingstone), mid‑season semi‑firm types (firmer flesh, still juicy, low susceptibility to worminess) and late true “bigarreau” or types (large, meaty, very sweet fruits, usually free-stone). These are medium‑height trees with broad canopies; and since cherry trees usually dislike frequent heavy pruning, it is usually better to choose a cultivar or rootstock that fits the size of your garden than to force a tree into shape by repeated cutting.
Cherries have a history stretching back to prehistory – fossilized cherry stones appear in archaeological sites from the Bronze Age. The first written records come from antiquity: Roman sources report the import of fruit and saplings from Asia Minor into Italy in the time of Lucullus in the 1st century BC, and Pliny the Elder describes various species and cultivars in his Naturalis Historia. The original trees were wild cherries with small fruits of variable taste and quality, however, people quickly noticed differences in size and flavour and began to protect and transplant the best trees closer to settlements, using their seed or graft wood – from foraging to informal selection, the path to early cultivation was short. From the Middle Ages cherry culture expanded in monastery orchards, and by the early modern period we find more systematic records; scientifically guided crosses and cultivar registration then accelerated development in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Description of the plant
Regina is a late sweet‑cherry cultivar raised at the Jork research station in Germany and prized for its large, dark red to almost black fruits; it is a typical bigarreau cherry – meaty, juicy and sweet‑tart, with a trace of tannin that gives character and structure. The fruits are firm, tolerate handling well and show above‑average resistance to rain‑cracking, which makes Regina suitable where spring and summer rainfall can be variable. It ripens later than common mid‑season cultivars (roughly a week to ten days after a classic mid‑season such as Bing), so it is valuable when you want to extend harvest into later summer or avoid overlap with other varieties.
Regina has a compact, rather upright habit; on vigorous seedling or mahaleb rootstocks trees typically reach about 6–8 m in height and 4–7 m in crown spread, while grafted forms on vegetatively propagated rootstocks (for example Gisela 5, Gisela 6) remain compact and easy to harvest, typically 2–3.5 m tall and 2–3 m wide. Regina is not reliably self‑fertile and needs compatible pollinators with a matching bloom time for abundant cropping (for example Kordia, Napoleon, Sunburst and other late bigarreau‑type cultivars). For gardens and small non‑commercial orchards vegetatively propagated Gisela rootstocks are often chosen for earlier cropping and higher planting density; Colt or mahaleb rootstocks are suitable where greater vigour and longevity are desired.
Regina prefers full sun, deep, fertile and well‑drained soil with a mildly acidic to neutral reaction (approx. pH 5.5–7.5); regular irrigation during fruit development improves size and sweetness, but waterlogging is harmful. Young trees and half‑standards should be secured with a sturdy stake placed close to the trunk for the first years; free‑standing standard trees require a strong staking for at least three years. Harvest when fruits are fully ripe by taste and colour, protect crops from birds with nets and from the European cherry fruit fly, and note that the variety is hardy to about −29 °C for woody survival. Cherries are not ideal for containers because they are sensitive to fluctuations in moisture and nutrients.
Last update 26-09-2025
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GLOSSARY
- STANDARD QUALITY - Plants of this group are 1st class quality with number of branches and overall density adequate to their size and age, considering they were container grown.
- DE LUXE QUALITY - This label guarantees a luxurious quality of manually selected plants that, compared to their height and age, are exceptionally dense and beautiful.
- EXTRA - These plants are usually mature and bigger specimens with exceptional overall appearance.
- STANDARD (as described in the plant form) means a tree with a trunk of 190-210 cm and a crown at the top, unless specified differently. The commercial size for trees is their girth measured in the height of 1m from ground.
- HOBBY - These plants are of the same quality as our standard-quality plants but younger and therefore cheaper.
- SHRUB - a woody plant with branches growing bushy from the ground level.
- HALF-STANDARD or MINI-STANDARD - a small tree with shorter trunk, its size is usually specified.
- FEATHERED - These are trees with branches growing already from the base of the trunk and up along the stem.
- GRASSES and PERENNIALS - Sizes given usually read the diameter of the pot or the clump, as specified.
