I seriously doubt you bought sand plums. The Chickasaw Plum "Prunus angustifolia" rarely gets over 6 feet tall. I've never seen them bigger than that.

I think there are about 5 wild or native plums in Oklahoma alone. No telling how many across the U.S.

randy

It may just be me, but I like to research the scientific name of anything like that before I buy. Native is a very general or very vague term. It could be native to China. The scientific name allows you to pin down where it's native and if it will do well for you where you live.

I just looked. The 4 other native plums, the American "Prunus americana", Hortulan "Prunus hortulana", the Mexican "Prunus mexicana", and the Wildgoose "Prunus munsoniana" all grow to about 20 feet. The Wildgoose and Hortulan have very small ranges so are are fairly rare.

I have a few Mexican Plum here on the property, but they don't look like something good for privacy screens.

Hopefully you have gotten hold of something that will work out for you. Good luck with them.

randy

I have some native plums. They make fruit every year but the wind blows about the time the fruit ripens and the thorns poke holes in the fruit. I am lucky if I can get one or two good ones a year.

What part of the state are you in? I'm in zone 6 in Helena and we have tons of sand plums around here. They only get about 4-5 feet tall and are a shrub. If you like sour you will like them but they make knock out jelly!! Around these parts you have to be very careful when harvesting them because of the rattlesnakes, but I carry a stick and make alot of noise. Oh yeah, wear boots.

We used to go plum picking, would just take a Sunday afternoon drive down country roads till we saw some. I think it was in late June, early July. Sand plum bushes that grow along the road are not all that attractive. They are scraggly looking, in fact. If they had better soil and other growing conditions, they might look better but I don't see them acting as a wind-break or even a very good screen.

If you're really wanting to grow them, how about an outing to pick them in the wild and then save the seed?

Ilene,

I have a question for you. Have you ever seen sand plums that look better growing in better soil? Probably not. They grow and "thrive", although in our minds they don't look like it, in sandy soils.

randy

Actually, Randy, I've never seen sand plums growing in good soil.. Only along the dusty gravel country roads. But I would assume if they had more water and better soil maybe they'd be more attractive. Then again, maybe not. I know there are some things, certain herbs, for instance, that do better in poor soil than in the good stuff.

Hi Ilene,

I should have been more clear about what I was trying to say. Sand Plums will only grow in sandy soils. You put them in a better soil and I doubt they will live for very long. If they would live in better soils, they would populated those better soils by now and we would see sand plums everywhere. Think that's why they are called sand plums.

randy

Why don't you just drive along a country road and dig up a few of the smaller plum trees? I'm sure nobody would mind if you took some growing along the road side. There are always tons of small trees coming up under the bigger trees. We had two thickets of sand plums at my old house. The larger thicket we had bulldozed down a few years ago, and the smaller thicket encroaches on my land from the adjoining property. I have dug up sooo many of those little trees and given them away and swapped them in the past. They generally transplant easily and in just a few years, you'll have fruit of your own. I would offer you some of mine but I have since moved and don't go back to my other land very often. I was just there yesterday and it will probably be a month or two before I go back. If I wanted some sand plums though, I'd just drive down some country roads until I found a thicket, and dig me up some baby trees. The roadsides are covered around here with blooming trees, so they are easy to spot at this time of year. Good luck finding some. Sand plum jelly IS the best!

Oh, and Randy, I agree with the sandy soil/bad soil theory. My land is in the foothills of the Arbuckle Mountains, and is very rocky and very sandy. The sand plums thrive there.

Although I prefer "Raintree", "Starks" and other more personable nurseries, Gurney's has dirt cheap prices and their stock has been reliable - so I use them for weird stuff that I don't see other places. You have to be careful because they 'alter' the name of things to make it sound like they have something no one else has and therefore never give reliable plant specie information... but they do have some weird fun stuff. Since I'm doing 5 acres of "edible landscaping" and have some unique needs (like a privacy hedge for 70 feet, which I ordered chokecherries for)... I do order something from them every once in awhile. I suspect my "native plum" is from Russia... but that's ok. I would love to find some real Oklahoma Sand Plum's... I don't even know what they look like or I would collect some fruit and just grow the seedlings. But thanks for all the input!

Lifeblessings, here is a picture of sand hill plums, while I was out riding around today I took a picture of some. They're blooming everywhere!! Isn't it a little early for that? Maybe not. I am not into photobucket so I will give you another url for the pic.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sand Hill Plums

River22:

I've often wondered what those blossoming shrubs were! Now I know.

Wonderful pictures of your garden. Looks like its ready to go and you've put a lot of work into it.

Robert
Spademill Lane, OKC

Thanks, yes, it's a lot of work. I have been digging more trenches. I figured I better get it done before all the volunteers start coming up.