Have you tried the AU series of plum developed by the Alabama Agriculture Experiment Station at Auburn University?

They have developed Au Rosa which is specifically designed for cold hardiness and productivity. It is a cross and back cross of Santa Rosa and Prunus angustifolia. I am not sure as to what zone it can tolerate as I was only looking for specific zone 9 info. Perhaps Lucky Pittman can chime in. Just look at this as a possible alternative.

Here's my notes:
"It was developed to meet the need for disease-resistant cultivars in the Southeast where prevalance of certain diseases and susceptibility of commericial varieties had discouraged plum production.

Trees of AU-Rosa are upright with dark green leaves. In test orchards in Alabama, the trees were vigorous, disease resistant, and long lived. The plant is self-fruitful, flowers profusely, and sets a heavy crop. The cultivar has proven its ability to produce high yields of excellent quality fruit where certain fruit and tree disease problems occur. It is an early maturing cultivar that produces fruit of excellent size and quality.

AU-Rosa is highly resistant to bacterial canker (Pseudonwna syringae, Van hall), bacterial fruit spot [Xanthomonas pruni (E. F. Smith), Dows], bacterial leaf spot (X. pruni), black knot [Apisporina morbosa (Schw.) Ark.], and plum leaf scald (Xylella fastidiosa).

Fruits of AU-Rosa have dark red skin (post office red, HCC 45B)1 and yellow flesh (saffron yellow HCC 21A) 1. Fruit quality is excellent for the fresh market, which makes AU-Rosa adaptable for home, roadside, and local markets. Fruit have adequate firmness for handling, packing, and shipping to commercial markets. Maturity date is about 2 weeks after Methley,table 3. Fruits were rated acceptable in canned fruit tests. Fruits of AU-Rosa store as well as Crimson, AU-Producer, and Santa Rosa and better than AU-Roadside, AU-Amber, Homeside, and Methley.

Tree vigor and tolerance to plum leaf scald are the primary improvements of AU-Rosa. Trees of AU-Rosa are vigorous and show no evidence of plum leaf scald, table 1, whereas trees of susceptible varieties grow much more slowly and show obvious symptoms of plum leaf scald. Tree vigor is a primary selection criterion in the Southeast, and the relationship of plum leaf scald to phony peach makes resistance important.

Two other characteristics, ripening date and skin color at maturity, may be taken collectively as another important advantage of AU-Rosa. Its fruit ripens on the same date and is more fully colored at any comparable stage of maturity than Santa Rosa, tables 2 and 3. Another improvement of AU-Rosa is increased tree longevity. In test orchards at two locations in Alabama, trees of AU-Rosa remained in extremely vigorous condition for 10 years. "

Joe have you ever tasted this or any other AU plum? I asked awhile back and could not find anyone giving a strong endorsement that these were excellent tasting. I did get endorsements on some other plums, for example Fortune which is another Japanese hybrid, is supposed to be excellent tasting as well as disease resistant. I am planting a Fortune this spring. I think it is also hardy to zone 5 but am not sure.

Scott

Scott, hopefully I will savor it next year. Always trying out new things. This year I have many new blooms on my grafts last year. There will be about 24 new plums to taste sometime in the summer to fall!

I'm in zone 6 and Shiro has survived test winters of below -22 F. Shiro is stronger here than Santa Rosa which sometimes suffers badly from southwest injury. This can be alleviated supposedly by painting the trunk with a white latex paint. I consider Santa Rosa superior in flavor to either Shiro, which is bland and Methely which I can never thin enough to get highest quality. None are as good to my palate as Elephant Heart.

denninmi + harvestman

thanks for the info guys !

i believe i shall have a go with the shiro. where i plan on planting it will be a bit protected from the weather, yet will have all the sun it needs.

reviews on fruit quality appreciated also. liked hearing about the elephant heart. i will be adding a green gage and while "shopping" saw ele heart right above the gg listing in van wells and was intrigued.

wildlifeman

Burbank is another Japanese plum recommended for cold climates. But the Japanese plums as a class bloom before European plums. If you would like to try European plums, Raintree has a good selection.

Another possibility for your area is the Asian/American hybrid class of plums bred for very cold-winter climates - varieties like Superior, Toka, Waneta and Purple Heart. The Fecdo catalog has a very good discussion on pollination of these trees. Planting a native wild American plum for pollination is often recommended, and the different varieties are planted close together to facilitate pollination.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fedco trees

Scottfsmith

Fortune was bred as a commercial plum in California and it is still planted commercially here. It has also been grown commercially on a limited basis in parts of New York State. If I were in Zones 5-6, I might also try Redheart and Burbank. Methley is supposed to do especially well in coastal areas.

In addition to the AU series of plums, the breeding program in Byron, Georgia is intended to produce disease-resistant cultivars suitable for the upper Southeast. Some of their plums are listed by Cummins Nursery in New York (below). Spring Satin plumcot (black skin) was also bred in Byron, Georgia . I see it listed as hardy to Zone 6. Stark's florid catalog description may have originated with a disreputable firm in Florida. The originator describes it as tart until fully ripe, then as having very good flavor.

Cummins also lists the hardy Japanese-American hybrids Alderman and Superior.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plums, Cummins Nursery

Carolyn, I have heard better things about the taste of the Byron fruits than the AU ones, and am trying their Rubysweet and Ruby Queen plus the Spring Satin plumcot. Note that there doesn't seem to be much reliable information, it could be they all taste very good. Superior is also a very good tasting cold-hardy plum which I am growing. The plums Gracious and Purple Heart at Fedco also sound like good cold-hardy plums and I am trying them. They are smaller plums which limits their popularity.

I don't think any pure Japanese plum such as Burbank should be grown in warm humid areas, they get too many diseases. I have about given up on them. I never understood why Santa Rosa seemed to buck the trend, but recently I learned it is not pure Japanese plum, it is also a hybrid. Probably in eastern WA they would be fine though - it is probably dry enough there.

Scott

Scott,
It is my understanding that many of the "Japanese" plums have rather uncertain parentage if you go back far enough. I notice that "Santa Rosa" and "Methley" seem to be used a lot in breeding programs for Southeastern plums. One parent of "Spring Satin" is a cross of Santa Rosa, Queen Ann and Frontier. I'm planting a Queen Ann this year (left over commercial stock). I like plums which tend toward being freestone. This variety is also supposed to be good cooked.

Japanese plums showing up in the heritage of the low-chill "Gulf" series from Florida (where disease would presumably be a concern) include Ozark Premier, Burbank, Beauty and Taiwan, with the Southern hybrid Bruce. "Burbank" also shows up as parent to some of the cold-hardy Japanese/American hybrids. I seem to remember something about some red-fleshed plums resembling "Satsuma" doing well in the Southeast.

In the 2002 registry of new fruits and nuts, your Spring Satin is listed as moderately resistant to bacterial spot and canker and tolerant of plum leaf scald. Ripens 2 or 3 weeks before Santa Rosa in Georgia. The USDA release info is linked below.

Out here in California, a lot of plums have "Santa Rosa" in their parentage. Also, several outstanding plums and Pluots have "Mariposa" as a parent.

Ed Laivo of Dave Wilson Nursery recommended to me Burbank and Superior as pollenizers for the very late-blooming, fabulous Emerald Beaut. Fruit Nut recommends the commercial plum 'Royal Diamond'. I am a little leery about whether "Superior" would get enough chill here. "Toka" is also supposed to be a good pollenizer for Japanese plums which bloom at the same time it does.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA info on Spring Satin plumcot

I gave up on Redheart some time ago, not consistant enough. Fortune is very interesting, had its fruit the first time last year and it is excellent- very firm for a Jap type but still great.

Up hear in southeastern NY, Europeans tend to be harder than the Japanese because of much greater susceptibility to brown rot and curculio. Green Gauge is the most susceptible to BR of them all or at least right up there.

one thing nice about Shiro plum is that if you have a wide tolerance and appreciation of your palate is that you can enjoy the fruits of Shiro plum for much longer, spanning the usage in about two months from the time that you can use them.

As soon as the fruits develop a shiny luster, they can be used and are delightfully tart, something like a yellow-green tomato and wonderful to use in fresh salads. As the season progresses, the shiro plum changes its colors into yellow green when it has some balance of slight sweetness and tartness. As the season progresses, it becomes sweeter as the color changes to bright yellow orbs.

Then it starts to shrivel as it nears the yellow orange color and starts to turn bitter. But then, before it gets really bitter, it would have been two months of usage already.

I have fallen hopelessly in love w/ Shiro plums. They are the juiciest, yummiest thing I have EVER picked off a tree. I am currently engaged in finding appropriate sex partners for my Shiros - who are not very self-fertile. The Shiros have been in place for 3 years - and last summer we had about 3 dozen plums. Katie - bar the door - we are going for a fertile year here.

Scott,

My Queen Anne's blossoms have a pink tinge at the popcorn stage and pink stamens. She may have a red-leafed plum parent. I don't know how the red-leafed plums do in your territory, but if they do well, "Hollywood" might be a possibility. The Sunset book shows a very wide climate adaptability for this variety, which is listed with ornamental Prunus cultivars. Wildlifeman should be able the get the superior cultivar of Hollywood in Washington State (there are apparently two cultivars which go by this name).

Shiro is a high quality plum, in my opinion, but it just does not have the most interesting or exciting flavor, and not really the most aromatic of plums. Sweetness, texture, eating quality is all very good, flavor is very good and they are really enjoyable to eat. But not really the most interesting sort of flavor, and not really so much different from the general subdued type of background flavor found in most plums. Although there is maybe just a tiny hint of "wild plum" like flavor in it. In my opinion, half the reason to get this variety is if you like the color yellow.

I do get the impression this plum could have a lot of value in breeding if it were crossed with another plum that was more aromatic.