Try Sunset Publishing > Plant Finder > Prunus for cultural tips. Use the Zone Finder to relate where you are to where they say each kind will grow in the descriptions.

you might also want to try the fruit forum ...

ken

I'm confused. Unless you are in the Southern hemisphere I would have expected your trees to be going into dormancy now, not out. You should expect leaves in the spring if they are alive, not December. They should have had leaves on them in September when you say they were planted unless they were imported from somewhere much colder with an earlier autumn. I know nothing about the climate of S Ca but if they have had no leaves since planting I would fear they are dead.

Regarding chill hours. You don't have to have freezing temperatures to count as chill hours. Roughly speaking chill hours are hours between 32-45 degrees. You could research Bing and see how many chill hours it needs.

You also say your trees are seedlings. If they really are seedlings chances are they are not going to produce trees like the parents. Did you perhaps mean saplings, or just young trees?

A Bing cherry tree growing in southern California will do reasonably well the first several years, just enough to get your hopes up.
After that, it will start dwindling away, more & more each year. And will eventually look so sad you'll remove it.

If you want a tree that will grow and produce cherries, ask at your nearest independent garden center which cherry will do well where you live. Several will. But only if you obtain the correct kind. Ask when it/they will be available. (In SoCal, bareroot tree fruits are generally available during Jan. & Feb; sometimes in Dec.)

As for the flowering cherries and other trees that require substantial amounts of chill -- total hours between 32 and 45 during Dec, Jan & Feb, but subtracting all hours above 65F -- will grow but will bloom erratically & will leaf out erratically.

So save yourself a lot of grief and grow "low-chill" fruit tree(s) suited to your region. The large garden centers know which ones they are. But you need to ask.

One big problem: Just because a garden center in your region sells a specific fruit tree doesn't mean it will thrive there.

Jean,
who gardened in Long Beach, CA, for 30-some years.

I'm from Macon, Georgia, which boasts that it's the Yoshino Cherry Tree Capital of the World, and I'll just repeat what a horticulturalist and professor of environmental biology said to me: "the cherry tree is a tree that's not very good at being a tree." We planted twelve in the park two years ago, and at least half have died. So they're a tough tree to grow anywhere. Kwanza is a far better choice, though it's not nearly as beautiful in flower (or out).

>So they're a tough tree to grow anywhere'Somei-yoshino' ('Yoshino') and 'Akebono' are common in the PNW and grow quite large here.

>Kwanza is a far better choice, though it's not nearly as beautiful in flower (or out)The name is of course 'Kanzan' ('Kwanzan') and it actually looks better in leaf than the other. But most Japanese cherries are like tropical orchids anyway, that is wonderful in flower but quite utilitarian-looking the rest of the time.

Ornamental cherry trees are difficult to grow in warmer climates, especially if the humidity level is high, cherries are very susceptible to disease and root issues. They also seem to grow much less vigorously in the absence of adequate winter chill.

I think the foliage is quite attractive looking, almost like a small elm tree.