Self-Pollinating Plum Tree Varieties
Maintaining a house orchard is an enjoyable and rewarding endeavor that may offer abundant, tree-ripened, home grown fruit. Plum trees (Prunus sp.) Are a natural easy-to-grow choice for an amateur grower, producing sweet, succulent fruits that are excellent for fresh eating and also make delicious jams, jellies, pies and sauces. Although many plum trees need cross-pollination, some varieties are self-fruitful, which makes it feasible to plant one tree and harvest plums.
Purple Plums
Plum trees create small to medium fruits with skin in different colors, depending on the number. The most common color is purple, from reddish purple into your real, dark, bluish-purple shade. Among self-fruitful trees using purple-skinned fruit, the number “Stanley” is a trusted grower, with mid-season fruit with skin that is an extremely dark purple. Its fruits are ideal for canning or drying. “Brooks” is just another tree which reliably produces abundant purple plums, a bit larger than those of “Stanley.” All these are best suited for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9.
Red Plums
A number of plum varieties have fruit with red or yellow-to-red skin. These plums are usually a bit larger than many purple plums plus they often get thinner skin. The number “Santa Rosa” is a good choice, producing tangy-flavored fruits which are excellent for fresh eating and also make good pies and other desserts. The number “Methley” is a particularly fast-growing tree which produces aromatic blossoms followed by sweet succulent plums with red skins and crimson-colored flesh. “Methley” grows best in USDA zones 4 through 9, while “Santa Rosa” is slightly less hardy and recommended for zones 5 through 9.
Cherry Plums
Cherry plum trees (Prunus cerasifera) get their name from the small size of their plums, closely resembling cherries in some cases. These hard trees are self-fertile and need little pruning or extra maintenance. The number “Atropurpurea” has purple leaves and pink flowers, followed by little sweet red fruits about 1 inch in diameter. “Thundercloud” is also purple-leafed with fragrant spring flowers, but is also a dependable fruit producer than “Atropurpurea.” Cherry plums attract birds, squirrels and other small mammals, which means you might have to cover the tree using mesh in early summer to crop undamaged fruit. Both varieties are best-suited to USDA zones 5 through 8.
Culture
All of plum trees are usually compact trees, blooming in late winter or early spring. They are not fussy about soil, growing well in many forms, providing they are not subject to excessive moisture and also enjoy most fruit trees, they prefer full sunlight. Plum trees generally reach 10 to 20 feet high with a similar spread, depending on the range. They need an annual application of fertilizer to maintain growth; utilize a balanced 10-10-10 formula in early spring, applying 8 ounces of fertilizer for every year of the tree’s era.