33.plum varieties in the world By Allah Dad Khan

33.plum varieties in the world By Allah Dad Khan

1. Plum Varities in The World By Allah Dad Khan

2. Japanese Plums Japanese plums actually originated in China but were brought to this country via Japan in the 1800s. They are not quite as sweet as European plums, though their flesh is much juicier. Two varieties that are excellent for fresh eating and canning are 'Satsuma', a large, dark red, sweet plum, and 'Santa Rosa', a large plum with crimson skin and purple flesh that turns yellow near the skin.

3. Damson Damson is a small, oval-shaped plum with an indigo skin and yellow-green flesh. It has an acid flavor, and is usually used for jelly, jams or for damson gin. If the fruit is left on the tree very late, it has an acceptable eating quality, if rather sharp. The trees are vigorous and bear heavily, bearing very well in the warm temperate areas. This plum is very disease resistant. Its white flowers are borne in umbel-like clusters of 2-3 on short spurs, and the foliage is dark green. Fruit production begins in 3-4 years. This tree bears heavy crops of purplish-blue, juicy, tart plums that ripen in August to October. The tree adapts to wide range of soil types but requires moist soil. It is hardy in cold climates and tolerates strong winds. Rainfall and high humidity during the growing season can cause the fruit to crack. Thinning is not necessary for Damson plums.

4. Early Golden The early golden is one of the first plums of the season, ripening in the second part of July.  Similar to shiro plum, it is small to medium in size, firmer than the shiro , mild tasting, sweet and does not stick to the pit.  The early golden is an excellent choice to satisfy your early season sweet tooth.

5. Starking Delicious  – This new variety is gaining acclaim for its great taste and ease of growing.  It is disease resistant making it a very environmentally friendly option.  Ripening in the second week of August, this deep red Japanese plum is a delicious summer treat. 

6. Methley Methley is a very early ripening Japanese plum. The fruit is purple with red, sweet flesh, very juicy with a distinctive flavor. This plum is an attractive tree, heavy bearing and vigorous. Trees are self-fertile and productive. The chilling requirement is 250 hours or less. 

7. Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is a medium large, crimson to purplish red, lightly freckled plum with yellow flesh slightly suffused with pink. The fruit is firm, sweet, juicy, and aromatic. It is one of the most frequently planted Japanese plums. The tree is considered self-fruitful and a good pollinizer . Fruit buds are susceptible to winter injury in northern climates. This is the Asian plum introduced by Luther Burbank with the famous “Santa Rosa” flavor—both tart at the skin and at the stone, but the flesh in between is pure succulence with a sweet, classic “ plummy ” flavor. The chilling requirement is 300 hours.

8. Wickson

9. Burbank   – The Burbank is a well-known old variety.  The fruit is medium-sized and has attractive orange-red color that covers most of the surface with a base color that is amber-yellow.   The flesh is yellow, fine-grained, firm and juicy, sweet and very good tasting.   The peak harvest is in the second part of August-beginning of September

10. Red Heart you would be fortunate to find the redheart at the farmers market in mid-august.  A finicky producer, the redheart is one of the tastiest plums grown in the state.  It is aesthetically appealing being large, smooth, and heart-shaped with dark purplish red skin covered with golden specks. The flesh is blood red, firm and juicy.  There are few other varieties that rival the redheart’s sweet aromatic goodness

11. Fortune The fortune is a large bright red plum on a yellow background.  The flesh is yellow, firm and juice.  This attractive, good-tasting plum ripens in mid to second part of September

12. Shiro Shiro originated in California in 1899.  It has medium, round, greenish-yellow fruit with a pink blush. The juicy, translucent flesh has a mild sweet flavor. It is excellent for fresh eating, cooking, canning and dessert. The tree is low growing, spreading, very hardy and prolific (may need thinning.)  It is a good pollinizer , but not for itself. The chilling requirement is 600 hours. It bears reliably in many climates and is self-fruitful. Japanese plums are vigorous and need another Japanese plum to pollinate them.

13. Ruby Queen  The Rubyqueen   is a medium sized fruit with a firm flesh and excellent flavor.  It has a beautiful dark red/black skin with a deep red flesh.  This is really a jem of a plum

14. Shiro The first plum of the season for us, ripening in mid-August.   Shiro is a yellow skinned, yellow fleshed sweet plum.  It’s size is often smaller than the later plums.  The flavor is sweet with very little tanginess.

15. Beauty Plum   Sweet, flavorful plum, more widely adapted than Santa Rosa (more productive in cool, rainy climates). Red over yellow skin, amber flesh streaked red. Ripens June in Central CA, a week or more before Santa Rosa. 250 hours. Self-fruitful

16. Red Beauty It is a variety of the Japanese plum, with the rounded fruit, medium thick calibre , considering that it is a very early variety. Red to dark red skin, depending on the maturity degree. Yellow flesh, hard texture and good flavour . It bears handling and transport. Very vigorous tree, open habit,  self-sterile . The maturation period takes place from the end of May to the beginning of June. As an exception to the fact that Japanese plum is produced in the warmest areas, in the Ribera Alta ( Comunidad Valenciana , Spain), predominate the Japanese early varieties, intended for export, like " Red Beauty" that is progressively replacing the varieties Methley ,  Golden Japan  and Formosa. 

17. European plums will grow where it's neither too cold nor too hot. The fruits are high quality and very uniform. 'Stanley' is a versatile European plum that is widely adapted and particularly well suited to the eastern regions and some of the Northwest. It's self-fertile and very productive. A medium to large freestone plum, 'Stanley' is excellent for eating fresh, cooking, or canning. Italian plums are similar to 'Stanley'. These large, freestone purple plums are very sweet, perfect for drying, eating fresh, or canning. 'Seneca' is a high-quality European plum that looks promising for the home gardener. It matures about one week before 'Stanley'. The fruit is large, oblong, and purple, with good flavor for eating fresh. European Plums

18. Autumn sweet ’  It is a Japanese variety with great size fruits, dark red colour and even darker when ripe. Sweet flavour and yellow flesh. Not very productive but very good fruit conservation. Maturation from the middle to the end of September.

19. Green Gage Green Gage was originally named Reine Claude by the French, then was renamed by the British around 1725. This is an ancient Armenian variety, still widely grown due to outstanding flavor. By any name, this is surely one of the world's great fruit varieties. This unique, European cultivar has been in high demand in local and roadside markets for its excellent quality and versatility. Not so long ago, the Green Gage plum was the best known and loved plum in Europe and America. It is now heading for extinction in this country, largely due to trueness-to-name problems that have made the real Green Gage hard to find

20. Stanley Stanley is a large purplish-blue freestone plum. The flesh is juicy, sweet, and delicious. The plum has greenish-yellow meaty flesh and is freestone. It is harvested in late summer. The tree is late blooming, extremely cold hardy and reliable. It does not require a pollenizer , and is itself a useful pollenizer . The tree is large and spreading, and starts into fruiting young. It crops heavily and reliably (late blooming helps avoid late frost). Stanley is very susceptible to brown rot, so it will need to be sprayed with fungicide in wet areas. The fruit are also susceptible to splitting after rain. The chilling requirement is 800 hours, and the tree is self-fruitful.

21. Empress   The Empress is a well-known European plum variety. It has large, elliptical, symmetrical fruit of very good quality.  The skin is purple and covered with heavy waxy bloom.  The flesh is greenish-yellow and it is semi-cling. The Empress is a very nice late-season choice. 

22. Blue Damson  – The Blue Damson is an old variety, renowned for its superb preserves and baking characteristics. It is a small blue plum with a yellow flesh.  The Damson is in high demand throughout farmer’s markets from individuals longing for the most mouthwatering jams and most intriguing plum bounces.

23. Autumn Sweet   – The Autumn Sweet is a new European blue-skinned, yellow-fleshed plum.  It is said to have superior quality to that of the traditional Italian plum.  It ripens the first week of September, making it a great choice for lunchboxes that kids are sure to love.

24. Long John   – The fruit of the Long John is large and has an interesting shape: it is quite long and bit “flattened”.  The skin is dark maroon, almost black, and covered with the waxy bloom, which gives it nice blue color.  The flesh is orange, firm and pleasantly tart.  It is freestone and it ripens with the Stanley at the first of September, but is larger and better quality.

25. N.Y. 9   – This plum ripens in the first week of September. The fruit size varies due to the crop load and goes from small to large. The flesh is green and the skin is purple, covered with waxy bloom so it appears blue. It has mild taste and is rather sweet. Though, it is processing variety, when picked when the flesh color starts changing from green to amber, it has just enough acid to make it well eating plum

26. American Hybrids If you live in a place where neither Japanese nor European plums will grow because of the climate or disease problems, American plums or bush plums may be your best bet. Though very winter hardy, American bush plums will produce well as far south as Florida. Fruits are 3/4 inch in diameter or larger, yellow or red, with a flat stone. There's also the hardy beach plum, or shore plum, which is found along the eastern shore from Maine to Delaware. The fruit is delicious in preserves. The plants are available commercially and can be pruned to a shrub shape or small tree. Beach plums are very hardy and enjoy poor, sandy soils.