plums!

[mskrieger]

I just ordered four plum trees from Fedco: Cocheco (supposedly reddish bark and leaves, pink flowers AND tasty fruit), Toka, Hanska and an American plum seedling. The seedling is for pollination purposes; the other three are all crosses of various Asian plums with Prunus americana. The inspiration came when I found fruit dropping off an untended tree into the road last summer in my neighborhood...it was delicious. I'm hoping the American genetics mean we won't have to struggle with disease so much.

I'm planting them in front of the house, where they'll get good air flow and southern exposure (and hopefully attention from the cat, who spends a great deal of time lounging by the front stoop these days. She's getting old...we may need to invest in a second member of the squirrel patrol soon.)

Just sharing because I"m excited (and nothing like fantasizing about the orchard when it's 5F outside, right?) Anyone have any experience with these cultivars? 

[philagardener]

Not yet but following with interest!

[blueadzuki]

Remember that, when it grows up, you can eat the fruit off the American Plum as well.

I have toyed with seedling plums, planting my annual supply of greengage and mirabelle stones (and the ume count as plums too, I suppose). So far, no sucess (by which I mean none not dug up and chowed down on by the squirrels.)

[mskrieger]

Very true--I sometimes snack on the fruit of something that looks like A. prunus growing in the scrub along a pedestrian highway overpass near my house. Fedco claims its A. prunus seedlings have "very decent yellow and red fruit" but since it's a seedling, I've got no expectations. I just purchased it as a pollinator.

Plant all the greengage and mirabelle stones you want, but European plums are going to give you trouble even if they grow. Our climate, blueadzuki, is black knot and brown rot heaven. A fruit growing friend of mine about 15 miles east of here who enjoys European plums cuts down all his trees every 10 years and regrafts clean scion wood to the A. prunus rootstock. You'll have better luck and faster plums doing that. And the squirrels won't eat scion wood.

[blueadzuki]

Ah, if only I was any good at grafting......

I THINK I have had American Plum. Back in my Cornell days, there was a tee by the side of Beebee lake on campus that was probably one (though the fact it died in my third year of black knot sort of speaks against that) Sort of a secret in plain sight (the horticulture TA, had never even noticed it until I pointed it out)

There was also what was probably a mirabelle on seneca street (now cut down, I check Google Maps) that must have been the toughest plum tree on earth since it stood between two bars and it's roots were continually saturated with the results of students overindulgences (I'm sure semi-digested food is good fertilizer but I don't think it stays so mixed with stomach acid.) Never tasted it, but a professor of mine did (he said I wasn't very good, but mirabelles often aren't great eating plums)

Well, at least you answered what I always wondered (why greengages and mirabelles and other European plums are so hard to find in the markets.)

Guess I'll continue my quest for the Ume?Mei plum with fruit that is edible raw (not a big fan of pickled plums and I don't drink).

[mskrieger]

I suggest that you try American beach plums as a pseudo-ume, blueadzuki. They're the same size, similar taste (but lovely edible raw), delicious, and native to our area. Salt resistant, too, so you can plant them along roadsides. The stock we bought from the New Hampshire extension service's nursery began fruiting in three years and is very tasty.

[mskrieger]

The plum trees arrived in the mail on Friday! I wasn't ready, so they are cooling their heels still in the wet newspaper in the box in an unheated, dim room. I plan to plant them this weekend. Hope they aren't stressed by the wait, at least one of them has already broken dormancy--saw green tips on some of the buds. Perhaps why Fedco shipped them with so early this year.

[mskrieger]

Planted the plums yesterday. Dug good holes for them (it's always depressing to dig 6 or 8 inches and hit a solid wall of rock, clay and sand...but somehow I persevered and got some darn impressive chunks of schist out of the ground this time. Felt like a true New Englander.) I mulched the trees with this year's custom flavor of rock dusts (calculated off a soil test and weighed on my kitchen scale using quart containers as scoops) and then added some colloidal calphos, mostly to add clay. Then covered with wood chips.

The grafted plums from Fedco were healthy little saplings, well-branched. The A. prunus seedling I bought as a pollinator was a monster, though. Amazing the vigor on that one compared to the others. I may end up grafting branches from the other plum trees onto it, we'll see how things go.

[mskrieger]

The A. prunus seedling is flowering enthusiastically. The Toka right next to it has a few flowers, so perhaps there's enough pollen for the seedling to set some fruit, so we can taste them. I won't let the other little plums set fruit (not like they look so inclined this year) because I want them make good roots and branch structure, but the unnamed seedling is so vigorous I'm not worried. Also I'm expecting its fruits to be closer to cherry-sized, and so not as stressful for the plant. blueadzuki I'll let you know how the fruit is...it might be worth your while to plant some A. prunus seedlings from Fedco if they're all as vigorous as this one. I don't think the critters can stop it.