A word of caution with new cherry varieties

It is always a good idea to proceed with caution when growing new fruit varieties. Tieton, Benton, and Selah are new sweet cherry varieties from the Washington State University breeding program in Prosser. Their fruit size, quality, and ripening times create great interest among growers in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere. All three of these selections are infected with prune dwarf virus and were evaluated with that infection in trials at the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center at Prosser. These trials suggest that, despite the virus infection, the three varieties grow well in the Yakima Valley on a range of rootstocks. […]