Yesterday, I was finally getting to yardwork, when I noticed purple fruit under my plum tree. I actually stepped on one in bare feet, so I knew how ripe they were. I have never seen more than one or two fruits at a time on this tree, and now there are too many to count! I decided to eat one and could not believe the flavor! So sweet with a very tart skin! Then I thought maybe I should have checked to see if they were edible before I ate it. The tree is a Krauter Vesuvius Flowering Plum, an ornamental, they say rarely fruits.
When I went online to check this out, most said this tree rarely fruits, purely ornamental. Well, I know mine is fruiting! They are about an inch and a half in size and very unblemished, until the birds find them! Of all the sites I checked, only one said they were poisonous. Others said they eat them and some even make jelly. I would like to pick them so we don't step all over them and it would be nice to be able to eat them. In all the research I did about this tree, I did see that it isn't a long lasting tree, only about 20 years or so, and I'm sure mine is atleast 15 years old. I think I'll take better care of this tree, because it is a truely beautiful tree all season long.
I planted two of these plum trees in my front yard for ornamental purposes. I purchased mine at a local Lowes store and the label provided with the tree did say the fruit is edible. I know of at least one video in youtube where someone actually picks the purple fruit and from this plum tree and then takes a bite from it. They seemed to think it was good because they continued to take bites from the fruit. According the LE Cooke website this plum tree was a mutated sport (a mutation of a branch) from a fruiting plum tree in the royal gardens of the Shah of Iran some 200 or 300 years ago. The gardner took the branch and grafted it onto a tree and continued to propagate it. So it seems to me like it should be just fine to eat!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately this tree producing fruit was it's last hurrah. It died slowly over the next two winters until we finally took it down.
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