North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org>]

You are probably thinking of the hybrids between the "Japanese" plum 
Prunus salicina and the Western sand cherry Prunus besseyi.

For general information see
http://gardenonline.usask.ca/fruit/cherryp.html

They are widely used in the southern Canadian prairies and the northern 
U.S. Great Plains. The only U.S. source I know of is St. Lawrence 
Nurseries of Potsdam, New York:
http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/

I expect there are some others.

Cherry plum is also used to describe the fruits of Prunus cerasifera or 
Myrobalan.

There are other hybrids to which the name has been applied e.g.
<http://www.davewilson.com/br40/br40_trees/cherryPlum.html>

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada



John S wrote:
> A year or two back I came across a company that was selling cherry-plum 
> hybrids with exceptional winter hardiness and smaller tree size.  At the 
> time I tried to buy one but they were sold out and I no longer remember 
> the company name.  Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of 
> hybrids (there were several different kinds) and have any sources for them?
>
> Thanks
>
> John