Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - [NAFEX] Need info on several plum cultivars

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Paul <tamarack@pconline.com>
  • To: nafex <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Need info on several plum cultivars
  • Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 21:10:14 -0600

Mount Royal is the standard Euro choice for MN. Fall 2003 I was getting Brix readings around 27. Makes a nice prune - uh, dried plum. Although it is reasonably hardy, much of the top of my 16 year old tree has died off and I wont be surprised if this spring the remaining limbs leaf out and then die. I have planted a replacement that is already producing.

Yakima is an impressively large, juicy, sweet tasting plum. U of MN trials done about 60 years ago rated it a notch less hardy than Mount Royal. However, it's a LOUSY producer! The thing would bloom profusely. On one side ten feet away was a Mount Royal in full bloom, on the other side ten feet away was a Count Althan's gage in full bloom. The Count and the Mount would set branch bending crops and the Yakima wouldn't produce the dozen that would be required for a State Fair entry in the 'other plum' category. In the last two years the top has died off this 13 year old tree.. Currently it is regrowing from a sprout on the trunk. I like the plum, but if you're looking to produce fruit and not firewood it's not the best choice.

Count Althan's, another Euro plum, was not included in the U of MN trials. ''Raised from an open pollinated Greengage in Bohemia, Czech Republic by Prochaska, gardener to Count Althan between 1850 and 1860 ... Large, round fruit. Deep crimson flush over a yellow background. Heavy bloom. Patches of russet and many golden dots. Quite juicy tender golden-yellow flesh susceptible to bruising. Pleasant sweet flavour. Semi-clinging stone,'' says Keepers Nursery in England. ''As grown in So. Indiana, it was mediocre at best, suffered from brown rot as bad as the worst I've had'' says Ed Fackler. In Minnesota, I'd say it's not as good as Mount Royal or Yakima. I was getting a Brix around 22 and thought it was rather bland in comparison to Yakima and Mount Royal. This tree is about 14 years old and seems to be about as hardy as the other two, but one tree is not quite a sufficient trial, is it.


Purple Heart. Attractive purple fleshed plum. In my experience (a couple of grafted limbs and a couple of trees) it is NOT hardy in the Twin Cities. I managed to grow a few plums before I lost the variety and thought they were rather tart.

P Yurista
New Brighton, MN




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page