How I rank the plums I grow starts with reliability which is a real difficult matter to truly sort out because there is so much variability from site to site- they also aren’t all cross compatible based on my experience. I also don’t want to grow plums prone to cracking when getting close to ripe when it rains as Green Gage seems inclined to do. If a plum is cooperative, it tastes better to me and all I really ask is that E. plums get up above 20 brix when ripe.
The Cornell series named after tribes of the northeast tend to be delicious but don’t bear consistently enough for me which is true of a lot of wonderful tasting plums such as Imperial E. .
I also use most of my plums during the winter out of the freezer or at least out of the fridge, so long storage is also important to me. I also like a large plum because they take less time to harvest, cut and freeze in halves. The lower ratio of skin to flesh also probably appeals to me.
My favorites are Valor, De Montfort (for being so early for a rich prune type) and Castleton. I grow whatever Cummins calls Green Gage, American Mirabelle, Damson, Empress, Oullins, Autumn Sweet, Mt Royal and Victory. I have a couple of Scotts favorites as grafts but haven’t had any luck getting fruit from them so far, and it should be taking this long.
I thin my plums which helps a great deal in brining them to highest quality.
Incidentally in the realm of J. plums I’ve become a huge fan of Burgundy Queen for one reason. When harvested ripe it makes the most beautiful plum sauce I’ve ever seen. Elephant heart get up higher sugar and is more delicious off the tree to me, but that sauce is unbelievable and I’m surprised I’ve never heard this attribute mentioned.
I have a Old Green Gage on St Julien A that was probably 3 on arrival, and on 3rd leaf now. Great structure and branching, maybe 6ft, never any flowers yet.
I’m curious about the opposite question - who has an Old Green Gage (Reine Claude Vert etc, not some other gage) that does fruit well? What age did it start? And what is your climate/zone/conditions?
Hi, while I was in the US. Zone 7a-b, RI, I only grew Euro plums. they took forever to produce. I recall my Italian prune-plum took 7 years before producing a good crop. Un-like Stanley it tasted very good, and made the best tarts.
My mirabelles I only had two varieties, also took a long time to produce about 5-6 years. But they were excellent. My Bavay was always stingy but they were the sweetest to me.
Now, living in France I again have only one Mirabelle and a New Quetche d’Alsace. My Mirabelle on dwarf rootstock, produces delicious fruit and my Quetche will produce next year. I have learned to buy five year old trees. It is harder to find 5 year old trees in the US. I am happy to know you are trying euros. The flavor is not the same as a Japanese plum. Try a Damson too. Good luck.
Europe does a lot of things that I wish we did or we can do but no one does them. Like you said they sell 2 year old years here so if you want a tree more than that good luck. There are some sellers like Alan that will do it but if you want a 5 year tree you basically have to do what I am doing a buy them as 2 year whips and then grow them years before you get your own place. Either that and get your own place then start them as whips. It is not only the tree situation but Europe does vacation destinations better too. When I went to Dominican Republic I went to Punta Cana 1 time and Bayahibe another time as an adult. We cannot seem to locate where we went as a kid. Punta Cana is an American destination and Bayahibe is mostly a European destination. Bayahibe was far more quiet and had far better ocean swimming than Punta Cana. I was researching the best vacation places for snorkeling and many of them are mostly European locations such as the Red Sea. Also these vacation destinations are cheaper than American destinations. Europeans just seem to know what they are getting for their money better.
I think you answered your own question about why the gages are not popular with commercial growers with this remark: a very long wait for fruit, and even then another several years before the production is really going. My Bavay finally hit its stride last year, over twenty years in.
Re Coes, I also found it a bug magnet and removed it. It’s every bit as good as a gage for flavor though. The curc loves to bite the tip when the fruit are small and then they love the neck when the fruit is bigger.
Usually grafting on a mature tree helps grafts to reach maturity much sooner. I do believe Coe’s flowered last year but the embryos of almost all my plums were killed by a deep dive in temps last week of March. At least that’s my diagnosis.
Just curious if you could give this plum a ranking amongst your other Gages, (or your other European plums in general).
Is anyone else growing this variety of Gage, and what is your assessment of its texture/flavor/precocity?
I have an opportunity to purchase one of these trees and I’d like to know if it’s just a run of the mill European plum or if it leans more towards the outstanding end of the scale. If it was something special I’d definitely give it a go, but otherwise I can’t see bothering as I already have a lot of plum trees.
I got a Bavay’s green gage on citation (Dave Wilson Nursery stock) and planted 2 months ago, it just has a pin head size of bud swell while all of my other plums, pluots and peaches have inch and a half of growth. Is Green Gage a slow grower and normal for this variety to something else is going on with the tree.
I have a Bavays Green Gage from Trees of Antiquity on marianna and it was among my first plums to leaf out. It was put in last spring and grew quite vigorously in comparison to the other euros I put in at the same time.
Are you comparing it’s awakening to other trees also just planted this spring? I wouldn’t use how it behaves the first year in the ground as far as budding time. You’ll have to wait until next year.
I see. Still, I wouldn’t count the first year planted as a good indication of future behavior. Let them all get suited to their new home. Relative to each other and not a calendar date, they should bud as per advertised.
Eh I find so much can make a difference with the time trees come out it is not funny. My trees on the south side with come out way before my trees on my north side. If I were to plant a tree on my north to pollinate my south side their blooms do not overlap even if mid season to mid season or whatever time. As someone else said my Euro plums are much slower growers than my Asian plums too. I also find the wood on my Asian plums much more brittle due to the faster upgrowth.
We bought our Green Gage from Fedco in 2013. Last year there were 6 blossoms for the first time. They were killed by a hard freeze in May. This year the tree is leafing out already, but no sign of blossoms. The wait continues…
My GG has been fruiting well for the last several years and my impression is once it gets going it is a very good plum. The Bavays is more reliable in terms of ripening for me, GG turns to mush too early. Bavays also fruits earlier - I top worked a plum last year with Bavays and it is already blossoming this year.