Mixed Source

Damson European Plum Bareroot

History: This European plum has contentious origins, making it difficult to determine if it is very old or extremely old. The name 'damson' stems from the Latin 'damascenum' meaning 'plum of Damascus.' As the name implies, some believe this plum may have come from the ancient city of Damascus and was brought to England by the Romans, making this plum thousands of years old. While this theory has been highly contested, there is ample evidence to prove that Damson plums have been grown in England for hundreds of years. It was introduced to the US in 1800 and was a a favourite due to its adaptability to its new home.

Why We Grow It: Damson produces small round clingstone fruit with a deep blue/purple skin and spicy yellow flesh. They are sweet enough to eat but also have some astringency which makes them less palatable than other varieties. However, they are superb for cooking, preserving, and making jam. The tree blooms late which allows it to avoid early frosts and this variety is self-fertile.

        $68.00

        Rootstock:
        Size

        Out of stock

        Fruit Traits:

        Recommended Use: Fresh eating, cooking, preserving

        Fruit Size: Small

        Storage: Keeps about a week in the fridge.

        Harvest: September - Late

        Tree Traits:

        Canadian Hardiness Zone: 5

        Soil Preferance: Sandy loam and loam, like plenty or organic material. Prefers average to moist conditions with well-drained soils, avoid planting anywhere that floods for more than two weeks in the spring.

        Flowering Time: Late

        Bloom Colour: White

        Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without a European plum tree of a different variety but will produce more and better fruit if one is present

        Sun/Shade Requirements: Full sun (approx. 8-10 hours of sun daily)

        General Growth Habit: Vigorous and relatively cold hardy, produces heavy crops. Somewhat resistant to black knot. Late flowering avoids early frost.

        Black Knot Resistance: Resistant to Black Knot

        Overall Disease Resistance Rating*:

        *this rating is combined with our experience growing in our test orchards combined with already available information on the cultivar.

        Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of plants across Canada. We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.

        Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc.

        Our grafted fruit trees are graded into two categories, and the size includes the rootstock:

        • 50-80cm grade: Smaller trees that may have some minor branching, this grade is like a "b-grade" size tree according to industry standards. This size may include trees that are over 1m but have some scarring or mild crookedness.
        • 1m+ grade: Trees that are over 1m tall, some may have no branches and others may have light feathering or a few established branches 

        Please keep in mind, bareroot trees appear small if you are unfamiliar with them. Size can vary year to year due to weather conditions and every single variety has a unique amount of vigour (some varieties naturally are smaller and some bigger, much like humans -and when you propagate hundreds of varieties, there certainly is variation). While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth. Therefore you may find some conventional nursery stock larger in comparison. 


        Why plant small? It's best to transplant a tree when it's young so it can establish its roots before it has a lot of vegetative growth. This is much less stressful on it and after a few years bareroot trees tend to catch up and even surpass larger potted trees planted at the same time.

        Orders that are cancelled last minute due to size (being "too small"), will still incur the applicable cancellation fees if the trees are true to our grading standards as per the agreement of sale when the order was placed.

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