Hi Beth,

From my research (I've never actually encountered one), Lapin cherries are a variety of sweet cherry (Prunus avium), the kind you find in the BC or Washington State cherry orchards. That tells me all I need to know to answer your question.

First of all, sweet cherry varieties are not hardy in zone 3, or even zone 4, or even much of zone 5!! They need very mild winters to survive and produce fruit, not the kind we get in Calgary!

But you planted the pit. Since Lapin is a hybrid variety, any offspring will most likely not come true to type from seed. These named varieties are vegetatively (clonally) propagated commercially because of this. So the seed you planted was most likely not going to grow into a Lapin cherry, but reverted back to some part of its genetic ancestry.

I'd be willing to bet that it reverted back to its parent species, Prunus avium. If so, this explains both the hardiness and the lack of fruit. The species is far more hardy than the selected commercial cultivars - I've seen some books claim that it is hardy to zone 3, although I am a little doubtful of that. But it is possible to survive in the Calgary climate.

And as for the fruiting, the cultivars were selected primarily for their fruiting attributes. The species itself doesn't produce the same size and flavor of fruits as the selections, and it doesn't produce fruit in nearly the same quantity. And, it is possible that it can take many years before it will bear fruit.

But even more likely, if your plant is only marginally hardy, then the flower buds (which are produced the previous season and must survive the winter in order to bloom and produce fruit) are being killed in winter while the hardier leaf buds aren't. This is commonly seen on many plants of the Prunus family - double flowering plum and apricots are good examples where the shrubs survive winter just fine, but won't flower in spring after a harsh winter.

So at least we have an explanation! Either way, you probably don't have a Lapin cherry growing in your yard!

Jim K.