Mrs. G. Thanks for the list.
If that list is the French list, no wonder they don’t include Reine des Mirabelles because it is not a true/ pure mirabelle. It is a hybrid.
Yes they are referred to as American mirabelles here (reine and geneva). We have different sizes too.
It looks like Reine des Mirabelle to me. Here is one that I picked today. Mine are usually around 1" diameter, in between a mirabelle and a gage.
7 Likes
Love the perspective… Makes it look bigger.
I planted Parfume de September and Geneva this spring (along with purple gage, from Raintree).
Was reading a post elsewhere here saying Geneva is an American hybrid mirabelle style plum.
I do see Parfume de September is listed as a true mirabelle?
Anyway I’ve read that it’s illegal to import mirabelle to the US… Do they mean the fruit or the trees?
If it’s the tree then obviously the Parfume would not be a true mirabelle.
Those French (my heritage BTW) love to name fruit and wine for the region it city instead of the variety.
It’s academic really if the fruit resembles and taste similar.
If these trees actually produce fruit down here in a few years I’ll be happy regardless.
2 Likes
Same here, although I took out my tree quite awhile ago. Its a great plum that never produced well for me.
@ztom
Thanks. I think it’s Reine des Mirabelles from the look, the color and the size comparison.
This year it does not taste as good as the previous year. Too much water.
I only have a graft. Every Euro plum set well this year. This means I probably won’t have any next year !!
Reine des Mirabelles is a hybrid. Geneva mirabelle was bred in the US. With those unpure heritage, the French consider these two varieties not true mirabelles.
The list that @mrsg47 posted on @tubig’s thread is likely the “real” mirabelles, per the French. Those include de Metz, de Nancy, de Septembre.
How these varieties landed in the US, is anyone’s guess. There are many US pluots and other interspecifics that have arrived to Europe (illegally). The Redlove apple series came to the US before the European breeder realized it.
2 Likes
@mamuang I doubt it’s Reine de Mirabelle. Ztom is in Ohio, his fruits should be ripening at least a couple of weeks ahead of you. He picked his yesterday, which means you would be picking RDM around mid September.
I’m not sure there is much difference between northeast Ohio and Mass.
Ahmad
Midwest is a lot hotter in the spring and esp. summer than my area.
Although @ztom is half a zone colder than mine, I am not surprised if his fruit and mine ripen at around the sane time including RdM.
@clarkinks in KS. His fruit (same fruit as mine) regularly ripen 1-2 weeks ahead of mine and we are both zone 6a.
2 Likes
May be you should ask @ztom for ripening times of a few other varieties that you both have, so that you confirm if there is significant difference in ripening times or not. Me and you are geographically very close, but you seem to be a week later than me in ripening of the same varieties.
Summer heat…
I can ask @ztom if we grow the same fruit.
We hardly reach 100 F here. It is rare. When we have temp over 90 for 3 days in arow, we call it a heat wave 
The Midwest gets over 100 F far more often than us.
1 Like
The mirabelles were brought in years ago probably. Just anyone for year could pop some pits into their pocket and get them through customs. However, the Mirabelle was banned for years, until a pact with the French was reached. The French wanted to protect their mirabelle market in Lorraine and the Americans agreed not to grow the trees for commercial purposes. This is true today. It is illegal to sell mirabelles for profit in the US. But, you can buy trees. I did. I bought both of mine from Raintree when I lived in the US. Here there are also specific mirabelles to Germany Austria and Switzerland. Only the ‘Lorraine varieties are considered true mirabelles. They are all delicious and very sweet.
Here in the US, sellers have sold Mirabelles at Farmer’s Markets. Wonder if that’s OK, per the agreement.
No its not. But I do not see any Gendarmes looking!
If would be hard to say even selling Mirabelles in the US would be at the cost of the French economy, don’t you think?
I mean you can’t call sparkling wine Champagne unless it’s from the Champagne region of France, but most countries still make sparkling wine and just call it something else. Brut in the US, Prosecco in Italy, Cape Classic in South Africa. We can grow the exact same grapes as the French use to make the champagne, we just can’t market it as such by name, which I agree with.
Yeah it’s an interconnected world. It’s hard to keep something to yourself for long.
3 Likes
The difference is that it never quite tastes the same or as good as to where it originated. IMHO.
2 Likes
Well for that matter anything I grow is going to taste different because of my local climate compared to others or the origination point.
I expect it, though the basic flavor profile hopefully is there for whatever you are trying to grow.
1 Like
Mirabelles are traditionally used for cooking. Not really eaten fresh.