Hi Jesse! Just checking to see if you got my last message. Happy Thanksgiving.
I purchased a La Crescent Plum as I already have an American Plum, and it was said by the nursery I purchased it from that they would cross pollinate. The La Crescent blooms a full week before the American Plum, and I’ve yet to get any plums from either after 3 years. Did you find a plum that successfully pollinated your La Crescent Plum? Thank you!
I planted a couple American plums several years ago, but they are in a poor location, so have never bloomed. One might be dead. The La Crescent has never had more than a handful of marble-sized plums, but they are quite tasty. I tried a bunch of plum grafts last year, but only one European one took in my home orchard. Overall, my plums have been a big disappointment yieldwise. Maybe this year will be different.
You can try the “Lee Red” American plum. They are ultra cold hardy and said to have an early bloom time. I know Alaskafruittrees has it, not sure on any other sources though
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I planted La Crescent last year so haven’t seen it flower yet. But my earliest flowering plum is Starking Delicious, and then Shiro and Hanska. They start flowering even before Toka, Pipestone, Superior and Alderman. Santa Rosa is in that same time frame for me as well, but it’s blooms are so cold sensitive I never count on it for anything.
I updated my list of relative plum blossom times on my Google form on the below thread. I have yet to update it to include My European plums, but just last week as I went around I noticed that most of them are now in full blossom. One you mentioned that you have, Mt Royal was in full blossom and you will see how it compares to the natives you are speaking about in this thread. My next update will include Mt Royal and several others like Wild Goose also very late. I grafted LaCresant, S Dakota, Waneta, Lee Red, Brooks Red, Vic Red and several other native hybrids this year which I hope to include for relative reference in my 2025 plum blossom schedule.
Dennis
Kent, wa
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Waneta blooms about a week before my wild plums, and toka is a week before waneta. If you had both of them you should be covered
I have La Crescent along with Black Ice, Toka, Superior and a couple lesser known hybrids and have no problem with pollination. I highly recommend Toka as an all around pollinator and both for taste and production, though the size is small.
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