North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Paul <tamarack@pconline.com>]

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