Hudson Cherry is a late-season sweet cherry that extends your harvest well into summer with its dark red, exceptionally firm fruit. Introduced by the New York Experiment Station in 1935, this cultivar has been reintroduced for its outstanding flavor, crack and rot resistance, and remarkable productivity. Hardy in zones 5 through 9, Hudson reaches 12 feet tall on Gisela 5 dwarfing rootstock and produces heavily with minimal fuss. The variety finishes the cherry season with a bang, adding two or more weeks to your picking window.
Full Sun
Moderate
5-9
144in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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Hudson's real strength lies in its combination of crack and rot resistance with genuinely sweet flavor, a pairing that's remarkably rare in late-season cherries. The fruit is very firm and dark red, staying on the tree longer than most varieties without splitting or developing rot problems. When grown on Gisela 5 rootstock, trees produce heavily from an early age while remaining manageable at 10 to 12 feet tall, making Hudson accessible to gardeners with limited space.
Hudson Cherry is grown primarily for fresh eating, where its exceptional firmness and sweet flavor shine. The fruit's crack and rot resistance make it particularly valuable for gardeners in humid climates or regions with summer rainfall, where these problems often plague late-season cherries. Home orchardists prize Hudson for extending the cherry season and for its ability to produce reliably year after year.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Harvest Hudson cherries when they reach full dark red color and feel firm to the touch. The variety's crack and rot resistance means you can leave fruit on the tree longer than most cherries without worry, allowing flavors to develop fully. Expect to pick in July, earlier than some ultra-late varieties, but later than traditional early-season cherries.
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“Hudson Cherry was introduced in 1935 by the New York Experiment Station, a breeding program dedicated to developing fruit varieties suited to challenging northern climates. For decades, this exceptional variety faded from commercial cultivation, but it has recently been reintroduced by nurseries recognizing its outstanding combination of late-season productivity, disease resistance, and flavor. The variety represents a quiet success story in American fruit breeding: a cherry developed nearly a century ago that deserves a second life in contemporary gardens.”