Patty,
My three Euro plum: Coe’s Golden Drop, Parfum de September and Castleton. They are all two years old . I planted them right on the lawn, not good soil.
5 Likes
Handsome trees. Pretty dusk in a charming Massachusetts neighborhood. 
Thanks, Matt.
The houses are so close to one another. Not much land to expand. No way to use even a pellet gun to fight off squirrels.
Thanks for sharing your photo, mamuang. Your trees look wonderful, and what a lovely neighborhood you have.
I’m in Northern California (the S.F. Bay Area).
I have a Parfum de Septembre Mirabelle in Santa Cruz (not far from San Jose, but more fog) and I should know in spring how well it fruits. It also has grafts of Mira. de Metz, Mira. de Nancy, as well as “American Mirabelle.” Mira. de Metz grew like crazy. All of them set fruit this spring but then I was away for many months in early summer, including a heat wave, and the tree didn’t get fertilized or much water, so not a good test season.
QUESTION: I hear on this forum that Geneva Mirabelle is sometimes called New York Mirabelle–is that ALSO the same cultivar as American Mirabelle? @mrsg47?
Thanks.
I honestly do not know. I only grow and am familiar with the Euro varieties, sorry 
1 Like
No, these two are different varieties (although one is a seedling of the other).
American Mirabelle
Hedrick: A cross between Mirabelle and Imperial Epineuse, made at the Geneva Station in 1912 and introduced in 1925. Fruit resembles that of the Mirabelles closely in color, but is larger and shows a trace of the Imperial Epineuse shape. Tree is splendid in every way. Flavor is delightfully good and will be appreciated by all lovers of choicely good fruits. Tree large, vigorous, tall, upright-spreading, open, round-topped, very productive, healthy. Fruit ripens during the first half of September, with a fairly long season; small, roundish oval, with a slight neck, halves unequal; skin thick, moderately tough, free from the pulp; color clear golden yellow with occasional russet markings and considerable bloom; flesh deep golden yellow, finely grained, slightly stringy, tender, juicy, sweet, mildly and deliciously aromatic; quality very good; stone semi-clinging, small.
Arboreum: One of our most cherished fruit varieties. A hybrid from New York State Experiment station about 1920, between prune and mirabelle. Elongated teardrop-shaped with a long stem, golden with pink highlights, its flavor combining the best qualities of mirabelle and quetsche, but larger than either. Juicy and emphatically a fruit for dessert, not for distilling or kitchen. Mid - late July.
Geneva Mirabelle (a.k.a. Mirabelle 858, New York Mirabelle)
Raintree: Superb tasting, small yellow plum with yellow flesh, red dots on the skin. Incredibly productive. Great for eating fresh, cooking, canning.
Cummins: A selection made in 1950 amongst open pollinated seedlings of American Mirabelle by scientists at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, in Geneva, NY. Rounder and earlier than its female parent. Golden skin color covered by about 40% orange-pink blush. Fruit is small (~ 15 g), round, and completely freestone. Flesh color is amber, and levels of about Brix 22 are common. Proven to crop heavy and regularly in New York state conditions. Ripens about 10 days earlier than American Mirabelle.
Listed as New York Mirabelle by Greenmantle Nursery.
1 Like
Thanks Stan!
1 Like
Any chance you still have your tree and can share scions of the Parfum de Septembre ? I’m in the East Bay area and am happy to pay for scion and shipping if you can send me a few.
1 Like
Any chance you still have your tree and can share scions of your Mirabelle ? I’m in the East Bay area and am happy to pay for scion and shipping if you can send me a few.
1 Like
How have your Mirabelles done in San Diego county? I’m looking for scions to graft onto a Bavay gage tree. Any chance you would be willing to share some scions of your varieties? I am happy to pay for scion and shipping!
1 Like
Yes, I still have the tree and would be happy to send some scion. PM me the address to which you’d like them sent.
1 Like
Hey, all - any updates on how Mirabelle plums have been performing in low chill areas?
2 Likes
I live in Bay Area, Z9B (San Jose). We get somewhere between 400-600 hours of chill on average (below 45F model) with exceptions like last year. I grafted Parfum de septembre and Reine des Mirabelle last year and both bloomed this year. Hope they fruit and I can confirm the varieties before declaring these are good to go for our area.
4 Likes
Beautiful! Did training the branches speed up fruit production?
1 Like
Yes, branch bending speeds up fruit production.
2 Likes
I ordered Parfume de Septembre. Mirabelle , Geneva Mirabelle, and Purple Gage… They arrive in a month, though I’d love them sooner. Our growing season started in the last few weeks off February this year.
Zone 9a, southern Louisiana.
I will one-hole plant (after watching Dave Wilson videos) all three with the purple Gage in the best sun exposure spot since it’s less vigorous. I’ve almost run out of really estate on my residential lot (and still not have it look like a mess), so one-hole planting makes sense for me…
Will update end of summer on first year growth.
I am intrigued by the mirabelle plums…though made my decision to buy too late to have much choice in the varieties I could get, thus the purple gage…
2 Likes
How hot and humid is your area?
Growing 3 in 1 hole plums in a dry climate like CA seems like a good idea.
Plums throw out long canes (6-8’ long). You will be busy pruning 3 trees each growing season.
If it were I, I would grow one variety and graft other varieties on it. It will be much easier to manage.
Also, I hope you don’t have black knot. I have it on my Parfume every year.
1 Like