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Bare root. Seedlings and suckers offered generally. It requires at least two genetically distinct individuals for cross-pollination.
In my opinion, wild plums should be planted everywhere.
And so we’ve put effort into offering a diverse selection.
Chickasaw plum (gateway collection): trees grown from seed gathered from a local area with a diverse spread of Chickasaw plum genetics. There are at least 4 different fruit types in this collection, from dark purple to light yellow.
Chickasaw plum (big yellow): trees grown from seed gathered from the same local area as above, yet these are born from a single mother with large fruit that is light yellow and lacking tartness. It also appears to have a taller growth habit than most other Chickasaw plums. Possibly a hybrid.
American plum: Seed sourced from a conservation thicket in Iowa.
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.
Mexican plum seedlings: Prunus mexicana, seed obtained from David Snyder of Snyder Tree Seeds. Note: Mexican plum is not a thicket-forming species of wild plum.
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 16 inches in height before orders are packed. Suckers can be expected to have more vigorous growth and earlier fruiting than seedling trees. We offer 1 year and 2+ year old suckers. 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. Assumed species in the thicket are: Prunus americana (american plum), and maybe both wild goose plums, (P. hortulana and P. munsonia). There is also at least one hybrid tree. There is a great deal of variation within the thicket.
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.
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
