01 May 2017

Just plummy

Here's another plant that doesn't seem to have minded our recent freezing temperatures. It's a plum tree that I planted from pits a few years ago. It has grown into a nice round tree with red-tinged leaves.


The plums are red too, even this early in the season. Last year I didn't really get any plums from the tree, and I don't know why. It might have been the heavy rains we had last May.


The tree has a lot of plums on it this year, but maybe birds will get them all. And that's okay.


I think this is the only tree I've ever grown in my life. I ended up planting it in the far northwest corner of our yard, right on the edge of our wine-maker neighbor's vineyard.


I also planted the irises growing out there, a few years ago. They seem to have crowded out other plants from that spot, which was what I hoped would happen. Planting irises is easy. You just throw the rhizomes ("bulbs") on the ground and sprinkle some dirt over them. They like to be right on the surface — at least in this climate.


Above is a photo of the plum tree in our neighbor's yard. The pits of these plums are the ones I planted so many years ago. Obviously, the tree looks completely different, and so do the plums. There are millions of them this year.


The plums on the neighbor's tree are green now but will ripen into little round red fruits. The ones on my tree turn red a lot earlier but aren't quite as sweet.

12 comments:

  1. I'll hazard they make an excellent jam, tho'......

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    1. They do make good jam. And good plum sauce.

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  2. I was just thinking of your plum jam, and wondering if you still have some in the stock piles, or if you've finished them up yet?

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    1. We still have half a dozen jars of plum confiture from years past.

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  3. There is nothing like the feeling you get when your flowers grow, the tree starts to bear fruit, the tomatoes start to grow .. the work that goes into planting things and nurturing them is so well worth it when this happens :)
    I would love to have a sweet little plum, fresh off the tree ~

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    1. Wish I could send you some. This year I will try to dry some in my dehydrator and make my own prunes.

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  4. It appears this is going to be a very fruitful summer in most of the med. Olives, almonds, grapes look like giving a bumper crop. No frosts here. Love the irises.

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    1. Glad you haven't had freezing morning temperatures like ours.

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  5. I'm surprised that the tree grew so fast. I love the plums that grow in your neighborhood- I remember them well. Thanks for the nice photos this morning.

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    1. I wish I could find and plant one of those trees that produce the sweet yellow plums. Those are the best.

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  6. Don't those green plums on the neighbors' tree look like olives?

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