PlumHill,
Can you share with us any photos of the Alabaster plum?
Your farm sounds fantastic.
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I gave up trying to grow any plum other than the native Chickasaw, P.angustifolia, years ago. All others were dismal failures here, whether European or Japanese hybrids.
I have a very productive large-fruited yellow, local strain and have grafted the ‘Guthrie’ selection onto several stems in the thicket that has arisen from the original sucker I transplanted.
Guthrie is about 50% larger fruit… approaching ping-pong ball size… yellow with pink blush, and has, to me, a ‘peach’ flavor.
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Lucky that sounds like a good plum, it is a pain to push the envelope, and I’m getting tired of it too. Is the Guthrie a hybrid? Wonder if it comes true to seed?
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I used to love the mirabelles they had in Germany. For a few weeks we would buy them every week and all the bakeries would have plum pastries. I wanted to plant some here but didn’t get the impression they would grow well.
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They grow very well they just take time to fruit. Mine took at least four years before I had my first mirabelles.
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They grow well in some parts of the U.S. Anywhere that other Euro plums can be grown reasonably well. E. Plums are not the easiest fruit to grow in the east but when they get good cross pollination they can be as reliable as anything for me in the northeast. I even had some last year when peaches were frozen out and apples were more scarce.
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Hello, we are in the process of moving into a new house so I do not think I can find pictures in a reasonable amount of time. Alabaster is a medium sized yellow plum, like the yellow plum on the right in the picture (off the web). Very sweet and flavor like a ripe mirabelle.
Eric
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A yellow plum, well sort of that sounds great is Vermont. I grafted some this year.
Appears to blush red when ripe. A few in this photo by Jesse.
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Can you tell me a bit about how great American Mirabelle is? Any photos available? Considering ordering one soon and can only fit it in if I remove a tree, so want to know if it’s worth it.
I had a few from a graft this year and it was not a top plum experience this season. Just a nice, small and sweet plum, but my experience with it is very limited, however, such a small plum would have to be amazing to be worth bothering with. Hopefully Scott or someone else who grows many varieties can compare it over a wider range of seasons to other plums.
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I never grew American Mirabelle. The other Mirabelles all rotted too much and I wasn’t super excited about the fruit so I took them out. They are great for cooking and maybe one of these years I will put some back in along with Damsons.
Back on the original topic, my favorite yellow plum is Golden Transparent Gage. They are ripening now. It has a rich fruity-caramel flavor. Also it actually produces a good crop. Pearl is another yellow Gage-type and I think its on the chopping block, after a dozen years it still is not producing well and the fruits are inferior to GTG.
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How does Gold tran gage compare to Green gage? It must ripen later because my green gages are almost over up here.
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I never got GG to fruit, it keeps being in the wrong spot and getting moved. But its definitely later. Thats one thing I like about GTG, there are fewer diseases later and even the wasps are moving slower.
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Sounds worthwhile. I also would be interested in your comparison to green gage.
Edit, oh you beat me too it!
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I looked up Golden Transparent Gage Plum on Google. The hardiness zones varied from 4 to 5. Minus 30 degrees. We are at the edge of zone 4, nearly into 3, and occasionally go below -30. Has anyone in the St. Paul, MN, area or similar climate grown them successfully? So far my only plum to bear well and consistently has been Waneta. Black Ice taste great when they bear, but have been somewhat hit and miss. Pipestone and LaCrescent blossom, but no plums on good-sized trees. My Mt. Royal finally had a few plums this year, but they were wormy and got ripe about when we left on vacation. Alderman had just a couple plums that tasted just like Waneta. My superior died, so planted a new one, plus some wild plums this spring. I keep hoping for a plum bonanza some year!
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@northwoodswis4 —> I think Golden Transparent Gage is late ripening, which might be an issue in zone 4. A regular Green Gage would probably be a better bet.
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Thanks, Tom. I’m still on the lookout for plums that might do well for me. Ideas, anyone?
If you don’t protect your plums from insects, I doubt a plum exists that will work for you. You have to at least keep them covered with Surround- if you do that your Mt. Royals will likely remain on the tree until you return from vacation and reward you with deeply sweet and delicious fruit. Prune plums usually hold onto the tree until they are very soft and sweet.
We can grow most varieties of E.plums in S. NY and don’t need particularly cold hardy types, but a couple of Mt. Royals I manage had fruit of very high quality- actually slightly better than Castleton on its site this year. However, plums are very attractive to plum curculio in our neck of the woods and must be protected from insects more than any other fruit we grow here.
Spring is when they are most vulnerable, even if damage shows much later. I use 2 synthetic insecticide sprays starting at petal fall and finishing 10-14 days later or 4 apps of Surround a week apart. Your pressure is likely less but different where you are. Identify the worms and deal with it or don’t bother trying to grow plums is my advice.
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Yes, I hit my plum with Surround several times in the spring. The Wanetas, Black Ice, and lone Alderman plum were fine, but the PCs must have preferred the Mt. Royals. I’ll have to give them better care next year, but this was the first year the Mt. Royals have ever produced. after nine years. Thanks for your reply.