North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[dwoodard@becon.org]

Richard, I expect you will find both Stanley and Mount Royal hardy in USDA 
Zone 4, rootstock permitting. Be careful about the rootstock, most of the 
standard commercial stocks are less hardy than these cultivars. If the 
rootstock is not fully hardy, much will depend on the snow cover.

I have heard of a small commercial orchard of Stanleys aound Gaspe, 
Quebec. Mount Royal was reported to survive most winters but not test 
winters at the Agriculture Canada station at Morden Manitoba, agriculture 
Canada zone 3b.

In 1950 an American pomological journal (I forget the exact title but it 
was equivalent to the current HortScience) had an article on the
hardiness of European plums either at Excelsior (Minneapolis) or at 
various places around Minnesota. Stanley was found to be a shade
hardier than Mount Royal, but both survived.

Krikon Damson was the hardiest. I think Yakima (large, high quality 
seedling of Peach, inclined to be a shy bearer, possibly unless well 
pollinated) was number 4 in hardiness, might be worth a try in zone 4.

In the commercial orchards in the Niagara Peninsula here, Stanley seems 
more prone to black knot than most others. From reading, Mount Royal is 
reputed somewhat disease resistant. I have seen a Myrobalan root with
a black knot on the exposed 4 inches when the Mount Royal top was clean.

On the sandy peach soils here the fruit quality of Stanley is mediocre.
It might be better on clay (speculation; the Geneva Station that bred it 
has a lot of clay from what I've read). It's OK for preserves; sauce I 
made was acceptable. I've read good reports of Mount Royal fruit in the 
Pomona, but I have no personal experience of its fruit.

Mount Royal originated at Montreal around the 2nd quarter of the 19th 
century. It's a smallish tree with nice crotch angles (personal 
observation as well as reading).

If you are going to try beach plum, it might pay you to get seed from the 
northern extremity of its range (up to New Brunswick I think, but always 
on the coast as far as I know). Some years ago the New Zealanders tried
beach plum as a dwarfing rootstock for Japanese plums. I don't know what 
the final conclusion was.

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada


 On Sun, 28 Jan 2007, Richard MURPHY wrote:

> Greetings Fellow Fruits;
>
> I look at their catalog and wonder why I don't throw in 25 Beach Plums or 
> Nana or Dunbars or American.....
>
> The intended use is fresh eating and / or Winemaking/ roadside stand.
>
> I'm trialing Stanley and Mt. Royal in the same orchard in zone 4 Maine.
>
> Anybody tried these ??
>
> All opinions are appreciated !
>
> Richard Murphy