Being originally from the south, my experience was that cherry has a deep, dark red color (right half). Then I lived in New York for a couple of years (didn't get to do any woodworking in my tiny apartment) and as I drove the moving truck towards west I stopped and picked up some PA cherry (left half).
Fast forward a couple years and I pull down some cherry for a project. I surface a piece of the PA cherry and think its color isn't quite right, so I put some finish on it and am sure its color is off. (it looked like any other cherry rough and even most of the way through the milling). So I pull down a board that my dad gave me and hand planed a small section and wet it with mineral spirits. You can see the difference in the picture! The colors are probably not exactly right, but the contrast is representative.
Is this representative of cherry from PA vs cherry from the south? I'm not certain where the "southern" board came from, but it would have been acquired by my dad in or near Atlanta (although possibly decades ago) Or does cherry have this much color variation among lumber from the same region? I'll admit I was quite surpised to see the very tan/yellow color from a board that looked pretty red when I started.
Cherry Color.jpg