Seattle!
You are almost my neighbor.
I’m in Port Orchard.
My favorite Japanese Plum was Burbank.
It has a very horizontal growth habit
quite attractive in the landscape and good sized dark red plums.
Seldom shows up at the big box stores.
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I don’t think I have seen a Burbank in the supermarket since 2004ish.
I will see about getting some. You are close enough to send Sumer wood in August. We are technically not supposed to have fruit/nut trees on the right-of-way, so it is possible the city could remove it. That being said, they would have to remove a few thousand birch trees that are also not allowed. Enforcement is lax if they can read the water meter. I was going to plant on the tree lawn, but I thought to look up the code first. You are supposed to fill out an application for approval, and there is a big ol’ list of prohibited plants.
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I have been wondering why this is advised. Plums are primarily pollinated by insects like bees. Bees can fly miles as they are out in search of pollen and nectar. So if your trees are 100 ft or 100 yds apart, why does it matter?
The probability that the bee will visit both trees is lower the farther apart they are. I read that you achieve the best pollination when the trees form a continuous canopy, with a small amount of overlap in the flowering branches.
hmmm… that makes sense. I also read that once a bee starts forage a particular flower, say a plum flower, that is all that it will forage for that day. So if the plums are spaced out every 200 feet or so, I would think they would find them, even if there is no continuous canopy.
They lose pollen as they fly around. When you have a solid canopy, they will browse back and forth between the trees. They will move freely between them, dumping more pollen on the intended tree. It is like hand pollinating a tree with a single swab, vs one that has had pollen reapplied numerous times. If there is a gap between trees, they will spend more time at each tree before moving on. More pollen gets dropped between trees, and the bee has less pollen to drop on the intended tree.
I don’t know about bees only visiting a single kind of flower. I know I have seen them hit multiple species while browsing the yard.
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Thanks for the explanation!!
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Hi Dave.
Burbank performs well for fruiting in your areas? Most of Japanese plum are not fruiting well here because of late frost during blooming time except Shiro, methley, and Beauty. I have Catalina but not fruiting yet.
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Sprite usually sets really well here and tastes good too.The birds like them also.
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I believe it depends on the kind of bee. Mason bees are pretty indiscriminate and messy about pollen gathering as well, that’s why they make such good pollenizers. Honey bees can visit a single sort of flower over and over. I came across this reading about kiwis; apparently honey bees aren’t as good for pollenizing kiwis because of the fact there are male and female plants and there dedication to one doesn’t allow them to get pollen from the males to the female flowers.
I believe it does not matter the species. They will fly to the nearest usable flower or pollen source. They will not ignore a plum flower 3 feet away for a plum flower 300 feet away. They would starve if nature made them that way.
Research has shown that pollination is increased when the trees are closer.
Burbank did well for my Uncle.
But he planted it in favorable soil on a moderate North slope
which delayed blooming a few days.
Japanese Plums are more susceptible to brown rot than the European plums.
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He also had the Shiro
but Burbank has more flavor and is a firmer fruit.
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Where your uncle location? Is it the same zoning with us 8b Seattle areas David?
I almost turned on Shiro, but I juiced it a couple of years ago and quite enjoyed it. Then, of course, almost no fruit last year. This year looks like another good crop.
Shiro forms a nicely shaped and healthy canopy compared to other Japanese plums. Its also supposed to be very reliable, last year notwithstanding.
Port Orchard
Same climate as Seattle
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Thank you David.