Let me know how much later. I’ve not noticed a big difference here between American and J types. E plums tend to be distinctly later and I wonder why more work hasn’t been done to breed them for the south. Bluebyrd is a nice tasting one that seems to be nearly immune to black knot. .I think the American ones are as well.
I’ve had Bluebyrd for a few years, got the first substantial crop last year. I agree with you that it is tasty. We’re not plum connoisseurs here because BK kills almost everything. But my wife said Bluebyrd was the best European plum she had ever tasted. And it has been free from BK.
i have it grafted on my black ice plum but it hasnt bloomed yet. probably will this year as the black ice gave me 3 fruit last year. ill let you know when it blooms here.
well the brookcot graft on my black ice plum has bloomed and black ice itself is a few days from blooming but no blooms yet on Can. plum. its only year 2 for the graft so may still be too young .
I have Ersinger & Kirke’s Blue, both bloom after Mt. Royal, in that order. You want some pieces for next winter, just say the word.
(Can also get my hands on Seneca, although it might not overlap bloom with Mt. Royal, being rather late.)
I am in Maryland and do have issues with black knot fungus in Methley plums. Spring and fall spraying with Lime Sulfur or Copper fungicide help some but you still have to be vigilant and prune out any black knot infected branches as soon as possible. Despite this I planted a few more Methley plums because I love the flavor of Methley, they are by far my favorite plum I have grown flavor wise. I currently have Shiro, Satsuma, Santa Rosa, Beauty and Wickson.
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for your comments on Methley, I have all of the varieties you mentioned but this will be the first year that Methley and Beauty have fruited so I look forward to experiencing them. So far Obilnaya is our best and most prolific, but Methley seems to be also a very prolific producer.
Dennis
Kent, Wa
I had two Eu plums… Mt royal and Rosy guage…
Rosy got black knot twice and then died last spring.
My Mt royal is alone now… but is supposed to be self fruitful. It bloomed pretty good this spring… I did some hand pollination which I am not sure was needed… and it set some fruit… which all eventually dropped.
With plums it seems I am always thinking next year will surely be better.
Mt Royal will be sold with our current home when we sell… so doubt I will do anything else to it at this point.
Hello Dennis: I think I may know you from another garden forum I was on years ago. The Idigmygarden forums that used to be on the Baker Creek site . if you are the Dennis Im thinking of you sent me some elderberry cuttings years ago. I think you will like Methley it is. Very vigorous grower and quite productive and on the West Coast you don’t seem to have as many issues with fungal diseases as us East Coasters. For fresh eating Methley is hard to beat, it has deep purple juicy flesh and a very rich sweet flavor. That’s why I planted more after loosing one tree to black knot. It was partially my fault as I didn’t realize how susceptible Methley was to black knot and didn’t get on top of it soon enough. I also planted an American plum this spring to try and as a pollinator for the Methley I put in my back orchard. The back orchard only has one plum Green Gauge an English variety so I wanted to put another variety back there. The rest of the back orchard are mostly apples with a couple pears and peaches.
Sorry to read of your Methley. My two are doing well. Unfortunately, I’ve had to destroy five Mexican plum trees because they were so diseased and I was afraid they’d spread whatever it was to my Methley. My place was overgrown and unmaintained for at least 20 years when I bought it last year. Vines and Himalayan Blackberry choking everything. Some of the blackberries had trunks near the ground 8" thick.
I still have one Mexican plum, but it’s getting the axe this winter. The bark just peals. Also had to destroy two peach trees I found.
OMG, I feel your pain. There’s nothing I hate worse than Himalayan Blackberry. I’ve been fighting an ongoing battle with them for over 50 years. Like cockroaches I’m sure they’ll be one of the few things surviving after a nuclear war.
My guess is that you will need a wild chickasaw plum to pollinize Bruce. For its part, Its likely mostly pollen sterile. It’s supposed to be a very early bloomer and may not overlap bloom time with the other varieties you listed.
I live in SE Georgia Hardiness Zone borderline between 8b and 9a. I can count on about 500 chilling hours. I think I have a Methley. Long story! Assuming that’s what it is, it is taking the extreme disease pressure of SE Georgia quite well and early on survived when numerous other cultivars succumbed bacterial stem canker. UGA rates it as “fair” for disease resistance and it likely has better disease resistance than Santa Rosa. While the fruit is pretty soft when ripe, they are great tasting little plums. The fruit sells very well in my yard. I for sure would not rip it out unless it got sick.