Summer Sun cherry trees
£38.75 - £64.50Summer Sun cherry trees for sale
Choose a size - pot-grown
All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.
PG12-year bush-trained 11.5L pot-grown tree, Gisela 5 rootstock£64.50
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree, Colt rootstock£58.75
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
PG3Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree, Colt rootstock£62.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Choose a size - bare-root
BR11-year bare-root tree,Colt rootstock£38.75
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR22-year bush-trained bare-root tree,Colt rootstock£47.25
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR32-year half-standard bare-root tree,Colt rootstock£51.00
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Need help?
Ask our fruit tree experts on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.
Tree specification
Photos of trees as supplied |
Tree sizes and forms
Next deliveries
Delivery from week commencing 23rd February 2026 onwards.
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
All about Summer Sun cherry trees
Summer Sun is an excellent modern English dark red cherry variety with firm-soft flesh and a good flavour.
It is one of the best cherry varieties for the UK climate, being a consistently heavy and reliable cropper even if the summer weather is indifferent.
Growing and Training
Summer Sun is not technically self-fertile, but in practice can be considered self-fertile or at least partially self-fertile. It can be pollinated by Stella or Van or Lapins. Summer Sun is itself a very good pollinator of other cherry varieties. The blossom of Summer Sun is also quite resistant to frost damage, helping it to set a crop even in a difficult spring.
Summer Sun grows with a compact spreading habit - if you select the Gisela 5 rootstock it makes a good choice for smaller gardens.
History
Summer Sun was developed in the 1960s at the John Innes Centre, Norfolk UK. It was not originally considered to have any commercial value, and was not even registered for royalty purposes. A trial tree growing at the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale was considered to be only a light cropper - until a keen-eyed researcher realised this was because the tree was on the end of a row, and not properly covered by the anti-bird net which protected the other trees. It was then taken on by the Frank P. Matthews nursery in the west Midlands, who found it to be one of the best cropping mid-season cherries then available. It also proved to be precocious (cropping from an early age) and the blossom was quite resistant to spring frost damage. In short, after a false start it went on to establish itself as one of the best-adapted dessert cherries for the UK climate.
The John Innes insititute was also involved in the very early work on self-fertile cherries in the 1940s - but Summer Sun was not part of that project. It is sometimes reported as being self-fertile, but this is most likely because it can set a crop even in a difficult spring when other varieties might fail.
Summer Sun characteristics
- Gardening skillBeginner
- Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
- Flowering group3
- Pollinating othersGood
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climates
- Picking seasonMid
- CroppingGood
- Keeping (of fruit)1-3 days
- Food usesEating fresh
- Country of originUnited Kingdom
- Period of origin1950 - 1999
- Blossom colourWhite
- Fruit colourRed
- AwardsRHS AGM (current)
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
Find out more.
All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS.
Find out more.
Guaranteed fruit trees
When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions.
Find out more.
More about cherry trees
Sweet cherry varieties can be classified into two groups: old traditional English varieties, and modern varieties.
The traditional English varieties are in fact mostly of central European origin (and have very un-English names) but were the mainstay of cherry orchards in Kent in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. These varieties are typified by good traditional cherry flavours, but they often have complicated pollination requirements.
Modern cherry development began at the Summerland research station in British Columbia, Canada, in the 1940s. The most famous of these new varieties is Stella but there are many others such as Sweetheart, Sunburst, and Celeste. While they lack the tradition and romance associated with the older English varieties, the flavours are still excellent and their self-fertility and easier horticultural characteristics make them a much better choice for the gardener with space for only one or two cherry trees.
Sweet cherry trees like sun, so choose a sunny aspect when planting. Cherry trees do not need much attention as they grow, a simple mulch to keep the area free of weeds is sufficient. Once fruiting begins the mulch remains important, and should be extended to match the spread of the branches, because it acts as a sponge and therefore helps prevent fruit-splitting after heavy downpours. You should also apply compost and/or manure during the winter to supply the tree with the nutrients it needs for growth and fruiting. Unlike with other stone fruit such as plums, cherries do not need to be thinned.
The other main horticultural challenge is bird protection. It's a foregone conclusion that birds will get your cherry crop before you do, because they are prepared to eat slightly un-ripe cherries whereas we are not. However the simple precaution of netting the trees just before the harvest will solve this problem - on very large and inaccessible trees drape a net over some of the lower branches, allowing the birds to take their share from the higher branches.
Some other terms that often arise with cherries:
- 'Bigarreau cherries'. This means a firm-fleshed sweet cherry variety (as opposed to a soft flesh).
- 'Heart cherries'. Whilst most cherries are spherical, many have a distinct heart-like shape.
- 'White cherries'. This refers to the flesh rather than the skin colour. While most cherries have a dark flesh, white cherries have a white or pale yellow flesh. Most white cherries are old traditional varieties.
