The Rainier cherry is a sweet cherry and the widest-grown yellow cherry. The fruit is yellow with patches of red, and the flesh is white inside. The fruit is very large and firm, with excellent sweet flavor. They also store well, resist cracking, and are slightly less attractive to birds, probably because of the yellow color. The full-grown tree will be round and, on a dwarfing rootstock, will grow 15 to 18 feet tall and 15 to 18 feet wide. They have elongated green leaves with slight serrations and reddish bark.

They bloom a light pink to white in early spring, the buds resist frost, and the cherries are harvested earlier, in Late May and early June.

Rainier cherries are not disease-resistant and should be monitored and sprayed. They are not self-pollinating and can be pollinated by the Van, Stella, Black Tartarian, Bing sweet cherries, and the Montmorency sour cherry.