Mount Royal plum trees

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by Larry Caskey, Feb 20, 2008.

  1. Larry Caskey

    Larry Caskey Member

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    I am searching for a source of a Mount royal , Yakima or Stanley plum tree. I've heard that there are mount royal trees growing in Edmonton however I do not know about the other's. Dose anyone know of a source in Edmonton or Alberta for any of these European plums?
     
  2. northerngrapes

    northerngrapes Active Member

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    Most of the major garden centres ie Greenland Garden Centre, Mill Creek Nursery or
    Salisbury will have it. Make sure you grow it in a sheltered spot and have a proper pollinator. It's a nice plum. cheers
     
  3. Larry Caskey

    Larry Caskey Member

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    Thanks for your reply, prairiegrapes. Everything I have read on Mount Royal says it is self fertile and Doesn't require a pollinator. If it does, what would you suggest as a good pollinator?
     
  4. northerngrapes

    northerngrapes Active Member

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    Hi Larry; European plums are all self fertile. It should be okay for fruit set most plum species do require a pollinator but Mount Royal doesn't (a little typo on my part)
    The biggest problem with Mt Royal is that it might suffer some winter damage in really cold years. I've seen mixed results with it in the Edmonton area. Make sure you have a good wind sheltered site for it. the nice thing about Mt Royal is that it is semi dwarf in nature so it's a good choice for a smaller space and the fruit is quite nice. Good luck.
     
  5. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    I had been fruitlessly searching (pun intended) in the Calgary area for about six months when I first read this thread, and I finally found that Parkland Nurseries (am I allowed to say their name) just east of Red Deer had them. I was able to select from about a dozen three or four year old trees that seemed in nice condition. I planted it late this summer and it did well, but didn't put forth any new growth, which is probably normal. I'll follow up with you on its progress next summer.

    Bob Dunn
     
  6. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    This will be the fifth year for my Mount Royal plum. It put forth four or five blossoms the second year but nothing since. Last year was the first it produced new growth. Just wondering what others experience has been with this tree.
     
  7. Tree Nut

    Tree Nut Active Member

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    I had a italian plum that grew to a fairly large tree over 6 or 7 years, but never flowered. I thought it was a dud, until last year when it was totally covered with blossoms. This year is the same again. Sometimes plums just take a while before they flower.
     
  8. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Shouldn't be sitting for 4 years with no new growth at all (surely there has been at least a little each year), should have taken off the second spring - something is not right for it in that spot. Bare-rooted stock has to replace part of the root system before it can resume normal top growth, most root elongation is in fall so if you plant in spring the momentum will not be restored until the second spring after planting - significant root elongation not occurring until the first fall after planting.
     
  9. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    It did grow quite a bit last year. It is planted in a spot where a huge spruce and a mature birch once stood. We had the stumps ground up, as well. I have been thinking that may be part of the problem. It is just starting to bud now, so another month may bring forth some blossoms. I'll report later in the spring.
     
  10. vitog

    vitog Contributor 10 Years

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    If there is a lot of wood chips mixed in the soil around the plum, their rotting will rob the soil of nitrogen. Try applying some high nitrogen fertilizer.
     
  11. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    There are loads of buds this spring--just ready to pop! I'm hoping it will be warm and dry enough for the bees to fly next week!
     
  12. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    I had about 30 blossoms this spring. The bees were too busy with the apple tree, so I tried pollinating with a cotton swab. Each blossom formed a small fruit of about 3 mm diameter, which turned yellow after about a week and fell off.
    About a month later I noticed one fruit growing in the back of the tree. It has grown quite large, and turned blue a few weeks ago. I picked it today because we are expecting frost tomorrow evening. I don't think it's quite ripe because it is very firm. It measures 34 mm in diameter.
    I welcome comments, suggestions and advice.
    I have attached a couple of photos.

    October 2: We cut the plum open today. It had been sitting on a cool window sill for about a week and seemed a bit softer. It looked a bit green inside, but when we tasted it, it was fully ripe and full of flavour. It was sweet and delicious.
    I have attached another photo. (It looks like I can only attach two photos, so I will add a new message to the thread).
     

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    Last edited: Oct 3, 2013
  13. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    All you can do now is put it on the counter and wait to see if it gets a little more ripe-looking. But don't let it get away from you and go bad.

    As far as future production goes you do have to have that bee action, and everybody is having a problem with bees being in short supply. It takes a lot of them on a site to get full production.

    And if the weather is unsuitable at flowering time there may be little, if any pollination at all.
     
  14. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    Here's the new photo of the fruit.
     

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  15. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    2014 was a bumper year for plums on my Mount Royal. It produced a few hundred fruits. They are the most flavourful plums I have ever eaten. My wife made 24 pints of jam and 8 quarts of stewed plums, froze a big bag of whole plums, and we also ate a ton of them fresh.
    They were late ripening, and Calgary had that now famous early snowstorm that took down trees all over the city. The plum tree was so laden with wet snow, that it was laying almost on its side. We had picked some plums before the snow and the rest after a few days of -6 degrees Celsius. They were all excellent. The stones on these clung to the flesh. A few weeks later, I noticed four that were hidden under leaves. These were still as delicious as the first batches. The stones were free in these last four (due to ripening or freezing?)
    We thought we would lose the tree, but we propped it up with stakes and ropes. It is loaded with blossoms this spring.
    I'll give a report later this year. I will attach a few photos.

    Bob
     

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    Last edited: Apr 30, 2015
    Karl Villareal likes this.
  16. Bob Dunn

    Bob Dunn Active Member

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    And, now for the rest of the story: The Mount Royal blew over in a strong wind a few years ago. Apparently the roots were damaged and broken from the snow a year before.
    We removed it.
    I had planted a Pembina the year before it blew over and a Brook Gold (or Red?) the year after. Neither seem good pollinators for the other—I have two plums on the Pembina. I planted two Canada Plums a couple years ago, which are reported to be excellent pollinators, but they were too small to flower this year.
    Perhaps next year (the gardener’s mantra)!
    Bob
     
    Karl Villareal likes this.

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