Those are suckers from the root stock.

Chris:

Your post on 8/10 mentions the plums are not leafed out but only have root suckers near the base. I too will agree with Rayrose. Your plums in the photo are most likely dead if the top has not leafed out by August. Easy to check. Just scratch a branch. If the branch is pliable and it is green under the bark it is alive. If the branch is brittle and not green under the bark it is dead. My guess is this late in the season with no leaves your plums are dead.

Most plums I know of are budded onto some sort of rootstock to propagate them. The suckers arising at the base of these plants will not be true to variety if that is the case. Sorry to give you bad news!

For the apples, just trim off the suckers coming up from the roots. this can be a common problem on some root stocks as far as suckering goes. I have some apples on M-7 and they sucker like crazy near the base.

Thanks Spartanapples,

I was afraid of that. The leaves look the same and they seem to be coming off the trunk and not a grafted base so I was hopeful. A friend of mine who is just about a hair more knowledgeable than I am on the subject said I should cut the trunk and pick a sucker or two to continue to grow. I was hoping to get a few more responses before taking action. I appreciate the reply and I'll trim off the apple suckers like you said.

Generally, any fruit rootstock on its own will not generate a tree that produces fruit worth eating. So if all that is emerging on the plum is just rootstock growth, get rid of it and start over.

btw, green under the bark is not necessarily a guarantee that the tree is still alive. All woody plants store a lot of moisture in their tissues and that can take some time to dry completely so the underbark area looks dry and brown or tan colored. Doesn't mean that the tree is not dead or 99% dead and has just not yet fully dried out. This is a bit of a gardening myth.

thank you gardengal48,

It's not the news I wanted to hear but it was the news I was expecting. I appreciate everyone who took the time to help me out on this. Just to show why I thought there might be a change it was savable I attached another picture of it up close that shows the shoots coming from higher up on the trunk and the rootstock. The other six trees I planted at the same time all went well but those two just didn't, bummer.

I cannot make out the graft line on the tree. If the scion has died, then you can do what your friend recommended if you want to try your hand at grafting. Cut off the dead portion, select the healthiest sucker and remove the rest. Encourage it's growth and then look to graft on a scion of your choice. Many how-to's can be found on youtube.

Thanks Jason,

I don't see a graft line either. That's what made me hold out hope originally. Thank you again for your comment. I just might just to see what happens.