North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 07:23 AM 5/20/2005, Charlie wrote:
> Jerry, can you comment on your P. Americanas as grown in your area?

Charlie,
5 or 6 years ago, I bought 10 or 20 row-run P.americana seedlings from 
Gurney's or Henry Fields - don't recall which, any more - as well as some 
Nanking cherry seedlings - both of these mainly for use as rootstocks for 
plums & peaches.  Most are still lined out in a nursery row, and some of 
the P.americana seedlings fruited for the first time last year.
No suckering - yet; but I do have some native Chickasaw plum, 
P.angustifolia, that I moved from the cow pasture and plunked down in an 
empty spot in the orchard, and these suckers really do sucker.  Before I 
knew any better, I put a plum selection I got from Lon(I've since lost the 
ID, so I don't know if it's Burbank Seedless or the other selection he sent 
at the time) on P.angustifolia, and it took nicely, but the rootstock is 
suckering like crazy.
Paul Zmoda sent me some 'Guthrie' P.angustifolia scionwood last year, and 
it grafts well onto both P.americana and P.angustifolia.  Think I've also 
got a piece of Guthrie growing on a sucker from whatever rootstock the huge 
non-fruiting Green Gage came on when I planted it 10 years ago.
I keep thinking about comments I've seen through the years about Green Gage 
being 'worth the wait', but I'm beginning to wonder if it really is.  10 
years, a trunk as big as my thigh, and it's had one single branch that 
bloomed lightly the last 2-3 years, but no fruit.

Louis L. "Lucky" Pittman, Jr., DVM
Veterinary Pathologist/ Dept. Chairman
Murray St. Univ.-Breathitt Veterinary Ctr.
Hopkinsville, KY