North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Douglas Woodard <dwoodard@becon.org>]

Cummins Nursery has a lengthy list of plums and the descriptions seem 
more objective and more oriented to the eater than those of most 
nurseries. See

<http://www.cumminsnursery.com/plum.htm#PLU>

Doug Woodard
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada



Eddie Earles wrote:
> Alan--thanks for the info, this is something I'm interested in.  I've 
> grown Asian plums successfully but have never even attempted European 
> plums.  I'll be moving soon to central Kentucky, and am planning now 
> which fruit trees I will plant, and have been wondering about European 
> plums.  If I have enough room I thought I'd plant one or two of the 
> improved Damson types (from the Geneva experiment station), because we 
> love plum preserves.  Asian plums are a fool's errand in Kentucky, 
> because of late spring frosts.  When does Valor bloom, in comparison to 
> peaches and Asian plums?
>  
> Also, have you tried the variety called Seneca?  How does it handle 
> humid summer weather?  Can you recommend any other varieties that bloom 
> late enough to set fruit where Asian varieties fail due to frosted blooms?
>  
> Thanks--
>  
> Eddie Earles
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* Alan Haigh <mailto:alandhaigh@gmail.com>
>     *To:* nafex@lists.ibiblio.org <mailto:nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
>     *Sent:* Thursday, September 11, 2008 6:42 PM
>     *Subject:* [NAFEX] luscious plums
>
>     One of the rarest fruits in the experience of Americans is tree
>     ripened European plums.  You can't even find them at farm stands any
>     place I've lived because they're always picked too hard.  The
>     varieties grown tend to be limited as well- around here it's mostly
>     Stanley, a reliable but mediocre plum.
>      
>     The reason for this post is to sing the praises of my favorite
>     European plum of the 25 or so I've grown while there is still time
>     to order one for anyone out there in a similar zone to my
>     southeastern NY zone 6.  I don't know how it would do elsewhere.
>      
>     The plum of which I speak is Valor, one of several introductions
>     from the Vineland breeding station in Canada.  It is a late, amber
>     fleshed, prune type plum which has just enough acid to go with all
>     that sugar and wonderful texture- juicy and rich.
>      
>     On most of the sites I've grown it it is productive whether it's too
>     wet or too dry and even in wet years gets the brix over the
>     charts. Of course plums in general can handle wet seasons well. 
>      
>     Valor is late for plums here and usually starts ripening in Sept. 
>     It is large for plums of this type, much larger than Italian or
>     Castleton, somewhat larger than Empress but not as huge as its
>     sister, Victory.  Because it is late, birds and squirrels usually
>     leave it alone. 
>      
>     Valor has not been a hit commercially and I think the reason is that
>     it ripens its fruit very gradually, usually over a period of at
>     least 30 days.  This is great for the home orchard but a non-starter
>     for a commercial variety.  It colors up far before it is ripe and
>     you have to feel each plum individually to know if its soft enough
>     to have reached peak ripeness.  This is time consuming but its
>     exquisite fruit makes it worth the effort.
>      
>     Adams County Nursery has some plants available last I checked if any
>     of you are interested in adding this variety to your orchard.
>      
>     Alan Haigh, The Home Orchard Co.