These are in the “I did not know they set fruit this year” category.
Pearl plum
By the time I saw them, they were on the ground or fell byva light touch. Very ripe compared to firm Pearl plum @SMC_zone6 picked. Still tasty.
I think these are very ripe Laroda, darker and mostly red. They are large, meaty and tasty plums. I could have picked them 7-10 earlier but they hid under lot of leaves.
@scottfsmith and @alan you guys grow Laroda. Do these look like Laroda to you?
Tippy, the Pearl plum is beautiful. Is it free stone?
No it is not free stone. I can’t describe the taste well (@SMC_zone6 can). I only know I like it.
Yes, it is a very pretty orange color.
I tried out Laroda on Scott’s suggestion. As is often the case (say, 50-50), whether based on palate or location, I wasn’t particularly impressed with it, and removed its branches from the tree in favor of Elephant Heart and a couple of others. I am a dunce when it comes to physical memory, so Scott will be a much better source of confirmation, although that does look familiar and I believe the timing is appropriate.
Yes those are Larodas for sure. The more ripe they get the better. Alan my guess is you picked them too early, they color up early so they look ripe but they are not. This year is my first large crop and it has been my favorite Japanese plum this year.
Thank you. They taste really good. They are large (for plums) and meaty so it is fun to eat. Flesh is not as soft or watery like Reema or several other J plums.
Not likely, I wait it out until plums are drop off the tree ripe. The first one I pick may be pretty firm, but then I harvest very gradually and I had a good crop on my tree- my trees are big and vigorous. There is always region and even local soil in play and then the variability year to year. .
This is my last one, just found it this morning. A bit on an overripe side and a bit too soft to my liking. If it was picked around the end of August, it could be have firmer texture.
Here’s something pretty funny. I checked the tree that used to have Laroda, and it still has a small bring of it with 3 plums that, from a distance. I assumed were Elephant Heart. I felt for the ripest one, that was soft with some remaining firmness, usually prime time for J. plums, and it was mediocre and low brix. Not that one plum is a very good gauge, but I’m pretty sure that the plums never were very good on my tree. I will let the other two ripen a long as possible to see if brix improve, and if it changes my view, will report it here. The more we compare notes, the more I believe in the variability of quality from region to region and site to site.
I believe many factors can be at play, for instance, my Green Gage plum, purchased from cummins, has not been especially good, but from a tree from them I planted further upstate on a site with clay loam and dawn to dusk sun they tasted great. I planted several other varieties of J and E plums and the difference in brix was minor. I suspect some varieties just require more light than others to achieve good quality.
Then there is issue of relative vigor I brought up in another topic.
Research on carbohydrate allocation and source–sink competition in fruit trees. Studies on apples, peaches, and plums show that high-vigor shoots and scions tend to become stronger “sinks,” drawing photosynthates and nutrients away from less vigorous portions (e.g., Hansen 1971, Physiologia Plantarum; Grossman & DeJong 1995, Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science on peach carbohydrate partitioning). This is the physiological underpinning for why a vigorous graft might suppress sugar accumulation in fruit borne on a weaker one.
This one has been very inconsistent for me, even from the same tree. Last year they were great, this year they are blah. Bavay’s GG is the one for me, it has been consistently great every year. I think many GG trees sold are some other plum, maybe Bavay’s sometimes…
I will try to remember to have you send me some wood of that one and give it a try. I would expect most Euro plums that do well there would also do well here- at least until I find out otherwise.
Thank you!!!
Last year was an off year of mirabelles. This year is an on year. I tried to thin but there are too many of them. So far I picked almost 50 lbs of them. Still quite a lot on the tree.
Now that is something! They make an excellent jam, and it is very prized here. A true French favorite! They look beautiful. A pain to pit, but truly worth the work! Wow!!! Xxoo
I like the fact that it is free stone. Easy to eat and cu up.
I must confess I don’t like mirabelle jam. To me, it is a one note jam, very sweet. We like sour cherry jam the best.
My favorite too! The best!
One of my late season plums but not the latest. The very late season plum in my yard is Coe’s Golden Drop.
This is Empress. It should be called Impress(or Impressive) for the taste and the size. This is Empress compared with a large egg.
Wow, a small melon!
@SMC_zone6
This year my Shenandoah pawpaws decided to ripen all at once. All dropped on the same day, 9/25. Only a couple of Mango are still hanging on.
All are on a small size despite good thinning. Lack of rain for weeks contributed to it.
