[1] The 'Ulster' cherry was created through an agricultural breeding program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1937, and was first introduced in 1964.

[2] It derives from the crossing of the 'Schmidt' cherry (a mid-season cultivar that produces a dark red, moderately large fruit of a good quality and superior crack resistance) and the 'Lambert' cherry (a heart-shaped cultivar with dark red and moderately firm flesh and a sweet flavor).

The dark red fruit is firm and large, sometimes measuring more than one inch in diameter.

Its fruit has a strong resistance to cracking brought about by pre-harvest rains, and the trees growing the Ulster cherry have been documented as showing a higher resistance to southwest trunk winter injury, cherry leaf spot and the late spring frosts that can prove fatal to this cultivar [clarification needed].

The Peninsula Cellars Melange, created by Michigan’s Peninsula Cellars wine from a mixture of fermented sweet black 'Ulster' cherry juice and pure grape brandy, won the Best of Show Award at the 1998 Michigan State Fair.