North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

Comparing Shiro and Methely is not a comparison of most esteemed J. plums
flavor wise, but they are two of the hardiest- Methely is particularly
hardy for a red-fleshed variety.  Both get sweet and delicious if
diligently thinned- with Methely requiring the most work on this front as
it tends to set fruit in great clusters resembling bunches of grapes.

The nice thing about Methely is that it is so early- beating Shiro by a
couple of weeks.  What is annoying about it beyond the matter of over
setting fruit is its positive magnetism for black-knot.  It can be a real
typhoid Mary in a plum stand if the site is susceptible to this plum plague.

A hardy J. plum that I like better than either of these has become hard to
come by and is called Earli-magic.  It begins to ripen its fruit between
the above two  and has some Santa Rosa quality to it but appears less
susceptible than SR to cambium damage from cold weather- either in mid
winter or early spring.  It also sets fruit more reliably in the northeast
than SR.