If you had to choose between those 2, which one would it be?
(I’m in zone 5b. And I don’t have place for every varieties )
Can you graft them together like most of us do?
Per Fedco nursery, Black Ice is cold hardy to zone 4. Zone hardiness for Spring Satin plumcot is not consistent, some say zone 5, the others say zone 6.
You are in zone 5, if you want one of these two, I would pick Black Ice. It is also supposed to be tasty. I think @jessica4b, has this plum. She has a black knot problem with her BI, though.
I do have Black Ice, but now, I actually think it has canker (not Black knot)… hard to tell as it is on the trunk, at the base of the tree. According to the information that I’ve gattered, I would still suggest BlackIce in terms of cold hardiness, productivity and taste. I didn’t taste the fruit myself yet (and I am not sure the tree is gonna make it). I am curious to find out what others have to say about Black Ice v.s. Spring satin.
I would also suggest you look up FedcoSeeds catalog. It lists a lot of cold hardy plums. You can look at their descriptions and see which is most interesting to you.
Not only a tree needs to be cold hardy for zone 5, you should think about bud hardiness as well. If Spring Satin (bred in Georgia) blooms early, the chance of ithose buds getting fried by late freeze is high in your zone.
A lot of apricot trees are cold hardy to zone 4 but their bloom so early. The chance of getting fruit yearly is slim.
I think this is the best advice for north eastern growers like us. I am trying to grow a euro plum (NY 9) on the northern side of my house, in hopes that the winter/spring sun protection it provides will delay the blooming time of the tree. The tree is in full sun exposure during summer. I can’t wait for spring to arrive to see how the tree did this winter!