My Elephant Heart has had issues with plum aphids. It doesn't seem to have affected the tree's overall health - no signs of bacterial canker, etc. Tree is in it's 4th year - got fruit the first year, no fruit set the past two. Lots of blooms this year - we will see what the fruit set is this time around. I have Shiro and Santa Rosa Asian plums on a single tree to provide cross-pollinization. Shiro bears reliably and I always thin the fruit set. Santa Rosa hasn't had a crop in the 4 years of this tree's life.
My neighbors have a windbreak of two types of plum - one red, one yellow. Both are small fruits - maybe 1.5" in diameter. The trees are decades old, and none of us have any idea what varieties they are, but they bear heavily and consistently. They are great for snacking - the skin is tart but not as bitter as most Asian varieties. They also make a great jam; the yellow one in particular makes up to taste almost like honey. They run freely so are not grafted trees. One of these days, I will dig up some of the runners that have crossed into the drainage ditch and transplant them to my space. Until then, I harvest from the road side of the neighbor's trees and give them jars of plum jam in return. If there's an extra-big crop this year, I may also try to make plum wine.
My Elephant Heart has had issues with plum aphids. It doesn't seem to have affected the tree's overall health - no signs of bacterial canker, etc. Tree is in it's 4th year - got fruit the first year, no fruit set the past two. Lots of blooms this year - we will see what the fruit set is this time around. I have Shiro and Santa Rosa Asian plums on a single tree to provide cross-pollinization. Shiro bears reliably and I always thin the fruit set. Santa Rosa hasn't had a crop in the 4 years of this tree's life.
My neighbors have a windbreak of two types of plum - one red, one yellow. Both are small fruits - maybe 1.5" in diameter. The trees are decades old, and none of us have any idea what varieties they are, but they bear heavily and consistently. They are great for snacking - the skin is tart but not as bitter as most Asian varieties. They also make a great jam; the yellow one in particular makes up to taste almost like honey. They run freely so are not grafted trees. One of these days, I will dig up some of the runners that have crossed into the drainage ditch and transplant them to my space. Until then, I harvest from the road side of the neighbor's trees and give them jars of plum jam in return. If there's an extra-big crop this year, I may also try to make plum wine.
Sounds pretty consistent with other gardener reports. :)
How cool to have wild plums that produce. I'm excited to hear about this plum wine!