Bruce plum is way older than 1972, and it wasn’t released by Texas a&m. It was grown from seed around 1900, and released to the public sometime later, certainly by the 1920s.
Here is a link to the grave of the originator, and it has some newspaper clippings from the 1940s talking about the development and release of the cultivar.
I grow plums in two locations about a mile apart. Very different experiences in these two locations.
In my orchard location, there was good fruit set on all plums, but very little harvest. Plum curculio devasted Drag Queen, Toole’s Heirloom, and Odum. Those are the only fruiting Chickasaws I have there. The few plums not hit by PC were carried off by squirrels or raccoons or hit by birds. Out of several hundred plums I ate maybe five. I blame myself for this because I was slow to get my initial PC spray, in large part because I was fooled by what was happening at my home location.
At my home location I grow Guthrie and Robusto. Both set a lot of fruit and had to be thinned, with Robusto having to be thinned heavily. A really good year for both. Guthrie bounced back from a couple of years of declining production. I pruned it heavily in the winter and it responded very well. In previous years I’d had tremendous aphid damage on Guthrie which the ladybugs eventually took care of. This year I caught the aphids just as they were getting started and pruned out the limbs with them. They weren’t a problem. PC also was a very minor issue this year. I believe this was because of some birds that ate them as they were just emerging. I noticed a lot of unusual bird activity in my home plums in early spring and couldn’t figure out what they were doing. I kept waiting to spray when I noticed the first PC strikes, chasing the little birds out of the trees, checking daily. Then the PC just didn’t show up. There were a few scattered strikes later on, but less than 5% of the plums got hit.
Taste was good on all plums, except Odum which tastes bland until they are very ripe, and even then is only ok. My flavor impressions generally match @coolmantoole.
I have acquired Guthrie, Ridgeland, Toole’s heirloom, Robusto, and Sonny’s yellow plums scions from a member on this forum. I am going to graft them onto American plum rootstock and bury the graft union. Does anyone think the scion part will grow roots? I would prefer if they were own root rather than grafted.
I’m confident they will root provided that you graft them low enough down for the roots to not be berried too deep.
Can anyone on here provide a stick or two of Sonny’s yellow? Would love to get that going here in PA. Thx -Pete
@coolmantoole is there a single place anywhere that contains a list of the interesting and/or worthwhile Chickasaw/native plums you’re aware of? Seems like quite a few are listed in this thread. LMK if not and I’ll draft one using this thread as a starting point!
-Pete
Not sure how this will post, but let’s give it a try. AI-generated using THIS THREAD as its input, so please let me know if anything needs updating!
| Variety Name | Type | Characteristics | Fruit Size | Brief History / Origination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny’s Yellow | Improved Chickasaw Selection | Golden-yellow fruit with orange blushes; sweet-tart flavor. Blemish-free and very productive. | Large; averages larger than Guthrie. | Introduced by Brad Harper; the original “mother tree” was a gift to his grandmother from her Uncle Sonny in Waycross, GA. |
| Guthrie | Improved Chickasaw Selection | Delicious, soft, juicy, and sweet/tangy. Highly attractive to pollinators. | Golf ball size (larger than wild types). | A foundational improved Chickasaw cultivar from Florida; often used in hybrids. |
| Odom | Improved Chickasaw Selection | Vigorous grower; flavor profile similar to Guthrie but ripens 2–3 weeks later. | Golf ball size or larger. | A sister selection to Guthrie, frequently grown together for extended harvest. |
| Toole’s Heirloom | Chickasaw Selection | Orange to red fruit; late-ripening with non-crisp pulp. | Not specified. | An heirloom variety originating from North Florida. |
| Robusto | Improved Selection / Hybrid | Consistent producer; fruit is crack-resistant in wet weather. | Larger than Guthrie. | Recommended as a sturdy pollinator for other cultivars like Byrongold. |
| Ms. Bessie | Chickasaw Selection | Reliable producer; observed setting fruit even with very few blossoms. | Small (typical of species). | Often propagated from root suckers; known for being exceptionally hardy. |
| Purple Pride | Chickasaw Selection | Distinctive purple foliage; growth habit is true to the Chickasaw species. | Not specified. | Found at a botanical garden in Alabama. |
| Drag Queen | Chickasaw Hybrid | Coppery-colored fruit; a hybrid between Guthrie and an unknown ornamental plum. | Not specified. | A unique cross-identified by collectors in the Southeast. |
| Ridgeland | Chickasaw / Hybrid | Yellow fruit with pink blushes; flavor is sweet-tart. | Not specified. | An earlier-blooming variety often used for pollination. |
| Segundo | Chickasaw Selection | Early bloomer; frequently cited as a good pollinator for other cultivars. | Not specified. | Part of the “improved” Chickasaw lineup popular in the Deep South. |
| Algonquin | Wild Selection | Golden fruit with pink-amber blush; juicy sweet pulp and tart skin. | Approx. 2" (oblong). | A heritage tree from North Carolina, originally gifted by a Native American great-grandmother. |
I can send a stick or two of Sonny’s Yellow. PM sent.
Not sure if this is better or worse, but it includes a few additional plums supposedly mentioned in this thread…
| Variety Name | Type | Characteristics | Fruit Size | Brief History or Origination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonny’s Yellow | Improved Chickasaw | Golden-yellow with orange blush; blemish-free and very sweet/tart. | Large (bigger than Guthrie) | Found in Waycross, GA; introduced by Brad Harper via his “Uncle Sonny.” |
| Guthrie | Improved Chickasaw | Soft, juicy, and very sweet. One of the best for fresh eating. | Golf ball size | A famous Florida selection; widely used as a benchmark for quality. |
| Odom | Improved Chickasaw | Similar to Guthrie but ripens 2–3 weeks later. Vigorous tree. | Golf ball size | Often paired with Guthrie for an extended harvest season. |
| McKibben | Chickasaw Heirloom | Sweet flesh with bitter skin; original bush was known to live over 100 years. | Twice the size of wild types | Moved from NC to MS in 1851; a multi-generational family heirloom. |
| Dot Piaza | Chickasaw Selection | Dappled yellow/pink skin with unique magenta flesh; very sweet. | Standard Chickasaw | A local selection being preserved by collectors in Alabama. |
| Toole’s Heirloom | Chickasaw Selection | Orange to red fruit; late-ripening with soft, non-crisp pulp. | Medium | A heritage variety originating from North Florida. |
| Excelsior | Chickasaw Selection | Heavy producer of golden-yellow, soft, sweet fruit. | Not specified | Discovered by George Tabor of Glen St. Mary’s Nursery. |
| Ms. Bessie | Chickasaw Selection | Noted for high fruit set even with minimal flowering; likely self-fertile. | Small/Standard | Named for the source; often grown from suckers on its own roots. |
| Robusto | Hybrid / Selection | Consistent producer; fruit is notably resistant to cracking in rain. | Large | Developed for better commercial-style reliability in the South. |
| Segundo | Improved Chickasaw | Early bloomer; used primarily as a high-quality pollinator. | Not specified | Part of the “improved” lineup for Southern growers. |
| Ridgeland | Chickasaw / Hybrid | Yellow fruit with pink blushes; flavor is sweet-tart. | Not specified | An earlier-blooming variety often used for pollination. |
| Algonquin | Wild Selection | Golden with pink-amber blush; juicy sweet pulp and tart skin. | Approx. 2" (oblong) | A 40-year-old tree from NC; gift from a Native American great-grandmother. |
| Purple Pride | Chickasaw Selection | Unique purple foliage; grows with a true Chickasaw habit. | Standard | Found at a botanical garden in Alabama. |
| Drag Queen | Chickasaw Hybrid | Coppery-colored fruit; a cross of Guthrie x ornamental plum. | Not specified | A unique collector’s cross identified in the Southeast. |
| Bouie Plum | Chickasaw Selection | Large fruit; high reliability in the deep South. | Large | A variety traditionally passed through the Black community in the South. |
| Possum Plum | Wild Chickasaw | Bright red skin, dark yellow flesh; very juicy but bitter skin. | ~1 inch | A wild-dug selection from Mississippi named for its wildlife appeal. |
| Wild Goose | P. munsoniana | Prolific bloomer; historically significant for southern breeding. | Medium | A native species found in the wild and used in early 20th-century breeding. |
| Hog / Flatwoods | P. umbellata | Often bitter or astringent; used primarily for jellies or pollinators. | Very Small | Native species (P. umbellata) found in flatwoods and sandy soils. |
Greetings all
Any chance someone on here has Algonquin chickasaw plum and could spare a stick or sucker this season? My impression is it has not yet been distributed, but it can’t hurt to ask.
Thanks!
-Pete
That mother tree was cut down and the suckers sprayed with roundup before any of us could get any of it. It’s gone forever.
It sounded like there was a survivor…
That’s really good! I will message Joan later and see if she has any scion. Thanks.
Marcus Toole
A great season for stone fruit here. Spring Satin was very productive and delicious. All of the Chickasaws/Chickasaw hybrids have done well. My notes for this year, in ripening order.
Robusto-productive, tasty but mushy when dead ripe with less of the Chickasaw twang, very fast growing, comes into production fast. Can graft on Chickasaw rootstock or Prunus cerasifera. No black knot, minimal brown rot.
Guthrie-very productive, required heavy thinning hundreds of fruit and I still didn’t thin enough, mushy and tasty when ripe, tree responded great to renewal pruning, lots of vegatative growth even with a very heavy fruit load. Grafted on to native Chickasaw rootstock.
Toole’s Heirloom-very productive for the first time this year. Started ripening just a few days after Guthrie. Blooms early so subject to late freezes. Minimal black knot, slightly more brown rot, but in a location that is shaded until about 11 AM so that and the heavy rains and high humidity around ripening almost certainly promote the brown rot. Looks and tastes a lot like Guthrie. Some individual fruit are definitely better than many Guthrie fruit, but I think I like Guthrie’s taste a little better overall. Grown on own roots and sends out a lot of suckers.
Odum-productive, reliable, easy to grow, no black knot or brown rot, but the taste isn’t great. I plan to remove it this year and replace it with more Spring Satin or perhaps another Chickasaw cultivar, as I’m not even bothering to harvest them this year.
Drag Queen-takes forever to ripen up. Isn’t really ripe unitl it gets very dark purple. Once it is ripe I like it better than all the others. Bloomed early and very heavily but didn’t have great fruit set- my guess is it was impacted by our last freeze which happened during bloom. Very vigorous tree on own roots. Minimal brown rot and black knot. Seems to be the favorite of plum curculio, and the birds definitely peck on the dark fruit just sitting in the tree not ripe. Suckers but not as heavily as Toole’s heirloom.
I’ve used several hundred plums to make five baking sheets worth of fruit leather, eaten who knows how many fresh, given away a bunch, and the ones in the picture above may be up next for processing. Toole’s Heirloom are on the plate with two Drag Queen, and the rest are Guthrie.
Any thoughts on rooting semi-hardwood cuttings of Chickasaw plums? Years ago, when Paul Zmoda first sent me scions of ‘Guthrie’ (Thanks, Paul!), I stuck leftover scionwood in the ground beneath the kiwi arbor, and they rooted and grew… but they got lost.
I’ve just about let Japanese honeysuckle overtake the two thickets of native Chickasaws (a large yellow, and a small red) plums in my orchard, and was considering trying to root some cuttings of them and Guthrie. We really had to search for root suckers this spring for a couple of friends who wanted starts, but I’m seeing renewed suckering out from the main clumps, mainly in the areas where we dug suckers in late winter. I still need to crawl in there and pull up those honeysuckle vines.
Looks like a really nice harvest! Do you ever sell scion wood?
Hi Lucky -
Afraid I can’t comment on rooting chickasaws but I can tell you that I have had some limited success rooting Beach plums on a heating mat inside a clear sealed storage box with an LED grow light on top. I dusted half with powdered rooting hormone and the other half I dipped in a gel. The several that rooted were the ones dipped in the powder. Rooting rate was very low so I was obviously not doing something right, including timing on when I cut the semi-hardwood cuttings (very late). I’ve also seriously considered buying one of these cloning things off Amazon as they sure LOOK like they might actually work based on the ratings and reviews. No clue if they are for real or not. Amazon.com: CLONE KING 36 Site Aeroponic Cloning Machine. Expect 100% Success Rates! : Patio, Lawn & Garden
I can honestly say I would be very surprised if a beach plum stick would root if stuck in the ground, but who knows, stranger things have happened.
-Pete
@haldog will chickasaw plums, specifically Guthrie, ripen after being picked? This is my first year with fruit and they’re ripening unevenly, so I wanted to pick some early and let ripen inside if possible.
I’m not Heldog, but Chickasaw type plums will ripen if they have started the ripening process.
@coolmantoole thanks for the info! here’s some that ripened on the tree…
