I've tried planting cherry trees in Urbana, with little success. One I planted last year grew fine then looked like it was all ready to bud again this year, but never did. Now, from the base of it, all sorts of branches are growing. My level of expertise is such that paintings of plants wither in my house. My question is, is there any point in letting these branches grow? Can they ever become a tree? Thanks for any help.

Wow Tom, even paintings? most cherries are grafted so I suspect the sprouts are from the rootstock so not worth growing. Is this a particularly wet area? do you have clay soils that would make wet even worse. Is this suppose to be a hardy cherry? also you didnt say sour or sweet cherry. sour pie cherries grow much better here than sweet. don't give up. work your way up with flowered note cards ;) Sandy