Prunus americana

[MrILoveTheAnts]

So a few years ago I accidentally bought 4 native plum trees. I didn't realize they were sold in pairs for pollination purposes (thus 2 became 4). These days I regret not buying 8 of them! They are bite sized and delicious! I listen to gardeners on youtube talk about Prunus americana, comments like "the flavor doesn't hold up to our cultivars," and I don't know what native plums they're eating because these are the best I've ever had.

I occasionally find caterpillars on the trees. Copper Underwings I can identify, but the other type the birds so far haven't allowed it to grow old enough to be identified.

The only other run in with a caterpillar on the tree sadly was inside the fruit itself. However it's very obvious which fruits have them inside and I really have only found 1 or 2 of the 800+ on the trees.

[BeeWonderful]

I have one of those trees. But it's still small. I'm looking forward to fruit. How old was yours when it first produced plums?

[MrILoveTheAnts]

Originally Posted by BeeWonderful

I have one of those trees. But it's still small. I'm looking forward to fruit. How old was yours when it first produced plums?

They were young saplings when I got them. It takes at least two to pollinate one another... which at the very least will increase your yield, I'm not sure if it's necessary to get fruit. They were between 1 to 2' tall when I planted them the first year.

The next year they were all over 3' maybe 5' at the tallest.

The year after they branched out a little and grew to be over 6' tall, with one of them deciding to fall over which I had to prop up.

I think the next year was the first year they flowered, which oddly enough occurred only on the trunk of the tree where the spikes were, there was fruit that year but some mold or fungal infection did those few in.

So that brings us to this past year where they flowered beautify, they're lightly scented too. (see below) I actually did spray them with a fungicide, but I did it every two weeks, where as the bottle would have me do it every 10 days and after it rained. I feel like that was enough to get a crop and holy cow did I get one.

I read that Wild Plums are a hit or miss crop in the wild. Bad weather during the period that they bloom can kill all the flowers and you won't get anything. But on other years they have crops like I had. I have so many of these things I'm forced to look up pie recipes.

[NEWisc]

I'm a fan of wild plums too. My experience has been much like yours - great tasting plums when you get them. They are very hardy here (zone 4) but late frosts sometimes wipe out the blossoms.

I think it's a great all around plant; lots of fragrant flowers, early nectar and pollen for pollinators, attracts insects that birds can use to feed their young, and it will serve as a pollinator for European plums in a fruit orchard.
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[havalotta]

I know how hard it is to keep up with them..Eat, eat, eat, but no matter how many I ate I never got tired of them and when the last were gone.....I missed not having any more.

I bet you could brandy them like cherries! Plum wine is good but it never seems to clear....You could probably give it a little help by adding campden tablets or whatever store bought additives they suggest...I just add water, yeast and sugar when I make wine... nothing fancy.

Do you have a press to try making juice?

[biigblueyes]

Enzymes that eat the pectin help wine clear. The same pectin that makes your jellies jell, makes your wine cloudy. I'll send you home with a little bottle of the stuff.

Up to now, my orchard has been mostly fruit that don't need a second one to pollinate. I think this fall I'll add peaches and plums.

[havalotta]

I knew there was something that cleared it....It's been a LONG time since I made wine using chemical additives.