Beach Plums, by my minor research, do okay through zone 3, but there are references that they need to be at or near zero elevation to grow. Wondering what folk’s experiences with them are.
In particular, I live about 3 miles from Lake Michigan in zone 4b-5a. My soil is incredibly sandy (Glacial til, not beach sand). Elevation is in the neighborhood of 750-800 feet above sea level… a couple of hundred feet above the lake.
What chances would I have of starting a pile of beach plum seedlings and getting them to eventually fruit?
I think Oikos grows them and does fine with them in lower Michigan. Edible Landscaping is a lot further from you and with a different climate, but probably an equal or higher elevation, and I think they’ve said they grow fine for them there, too.
With that… elevation shouldn’t be a problem. Both of this places are considerably warmer, but if they’re good to zone 3, I can’t imagine they’d be bad here.
put in some compost when you plant and mulch them. they will be in heaven. on the sandy beaches on the coast of Maine they grow to 100ft. of the water line .
