wild plums (#1)
Bare root. Seedllings or suckers offered. It requires at least two genetically distinct individuals for cross-pollination.
In my opinion, wild plums should be planted everywhere.
Mixed thicket seedlings: Wild plum seedlings are 1 year old and grown from seed collected on-site from the primary Feralwood wild plum thicket. This thicket has at least three species represented, as well as at least one hybrid wild plum. As such, hybridization is likely in the offspring. Read more on this below. Not available this year
Wild goose plum seedlings: Prunus munsoniana seedlings - sourced from Solomon of Indigenous Landscapes.
American plum seedlings: Prunus americana seedlings - sourced from David Snyder of Snyder Tree Seeds
Mixed thicket suckers: Suckers that are dug are well-established and large when dug. To minimize shipping costs and give the wild plums a better chance of survival, they are cut back to about 1 foot in height before orders are packed. Suckers can be expected to have more vigorous growth and earlier fruiting than seedling trees. Read more on the suckers offered below.
The thicket planted as part of the Feralwood project, where the seedlings and suckers originate, is a multi-species thicket that was established entirely from individual seedling trees. Known species in the thicket are: Prunus americana (american plum), P. angustifolia (chickasaw plum), and wild goose plum (Prunus hortulana). There is also at least one hybrid tree. There is a great deal of variation within the thicket, though all individual trees planted when the thicket was established produce fruit fit for eating.
When ordering suckers, due to the nature of the thicket I cannot guarantee you suckers of any particular species. What I can do is insure you that if you order more than one sucker I will dig from opposite ends of the thicket. This way I can guarantee you genetic diversity for cross-pollination. I will also select for variation.
American plum suckers: I now have an established isolated thicket of American plum (Prunus americana) that allows me to guarantee the species, as opposed to the ‘Mixed thicket’ I generally offer. At this time all American plum suckers are genetically identical, so keep that in mind when placing an order.
Chickasaw plum suckers: As with the above American plum, I now have an established isolated thicket of chickasaw plum (Prunus angustifolia) that allows me to guarantee the species, as opposed to the ‘Mixed thicket’ I generally offer. At this time all chickasaw plum suckers are genetically identical, so keep that in mind when placing an order.
If you would like to learn more about wild plums check out this article written by Akiva Silver of Twisted Tree Farm, Growing American Plums, and this article written by Solomon Gamboa of Indigenous Landscapes, Wild Plum Conservation Project.
Plant details:
Genus & species: Prunus spp.
Hardiness: Zone 3 to zone 8
Sun: Full sun preferred for fruit and flower production.
Soil type: Tolerant of a variety of soil types, well-drained
Soil moisture: Average
