St. Luke's Plum?

17 years ago

Has anyone tried growing the St. Luke's purple leaf plum in Central Florida? Pretty little 15' tree with deep maroonish purple leaves.

I hear they have done well in Gainsville, but I'm in east Orlando and am a little concerned this might be too far south by a bit. (They are selling them at Lukas Nursery but they sell Japanese Maples and hostas too so you can't trust their judgment! I love going to Lukas, but I wonder how many Northern transplants spend over $200 on a zone 7 Japanese Maple only to lose it in a summer or two?!?)

Any other purple leaf tree you would recommend?

Kate (who has given up her plan to put a jacaranda in the front yard)

Featured Answer

bigfoot_liz

13 years ago

a few years ago I used St. Luke's Plum on a job site in Deland, I got them from Chestnut Hill in large almost full grown spec's and did alot of research on them before using them since they are not that common here. I have a boss who got a good sized specimen 5-6 yrs ago from Chestnut Hill also, he lives on Lake Brantley and has the right style home for it. ~ liz

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Comments (6)

countrynest
17 years ago
Kate, I don't know if you remember from your visit,here
but I have a deep maroonish purple leave,nectarine tree growing. I do not know the name but it is a beautiful tree.
Felix
solstice98
Original Author
17 years ago
Felix, I don't remember that one - too many things to look at! But I'll check out nectarines.

Thanks!
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frtsnnuts
13 years ago
Although there are other varieties of purple-leaf plums sold by some nurseries in FL such as Thunder Cloud, St. Luke's is the variety best suited for FL's harsh summers. The name of the maroon leaf nectarine is likely Martha Jane.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chestnut Hill Tree Farm
ddveatch
10 years ago
Hi Kate, Lukas doesn't sell Japanese Maple as they do not survive in this zone. The hosta that you saw are sun hosta, suited to grow in this environment. Stop by and we will be happy to talk to you about these plants!
Frances Laws
8 years ago
I live in Clermont, Fl. and have a St. Lukes plum and it is doing beautifully and the funny thing is that it never lost it's leaves over that bitter cold winter we just had how could you figure that . It is planted out in an open full sun area. I love this tree.