Mystery Plum Tree

[Dara]

Last year, I bought a plum tree with missing label from my local gardening centre, and now I am trying to figure out the variety. Did any of your plum trees start flowering this week (17 - 23 Mar)? Thx

[Nicos]

My mirabelle is in flower.

No other plum tree here is showing any signs

[Dara]

What variety of Mirabelle is it? I also have Mirabelle de Nancy, but it still only has buds here in West London.

[Nicos]

Mine was only in bud until yesterday morning. We had a warm sunny day yesterday and it’s caused the blossom to start opening at an amazing rate. The scent is incredible and it’s covered in wild bees.
As far as I’m aware it’s the same variety as yours….it was a lost label but the fruit is orange and rose coloured with red speckles

[Nicos]

Is this any use to you?

https://www.treeguideuk.co.uk/early-...robalan%20Plum.

[Dara]

Mine was only in bud until yesterday morning. We had a warm sunny day yesterday and it’s caused the blossom to start opening at an amazing rate. The scent is incredible and it’s covered in wild bees.
As far as I’m aware it’s the same variety as yours….it was a lost label but the fruit is orange and rose coloured with red speckles

It does sound like the same variety, indeed. It was quite warm and sunny during the week here, up until yesterday (started to rain today). I was looking at some descriptions of Mirabelle plums. Most of them flower very early, but there is slight variation of the fruiting times. When do you usually harvest yours?

[Nicos]

Usually July/ August if I recall correctly.

[Dara]

That sounds great. Is it a self-pollinating tree?

[Nicos]

I think it is self pollinating but there is a plum tree about 60 feet away.
Having said that, they don’t flower at the same time, so yes, it must be self pollinating.

[Dara]

Oh, that's perfect. I was getting a bit worried, as I have a couple of other plum trees, including another lost label one, but non of them are in bloom at the moment, and I was even considering searching for a second early flowering variety. However, the space is very limited already, so, if it's self-pollinating, that would be the best solution ☺️