[nafex] Mount Royal Plum/Yakima Plum for cold climates

[Bernie Nikolai <Nikolai@v-wave.com>]

My 3 year old Mount Royal Plum has just rewarded me with a small quantity of
deep blue plums, just now ripe in my zone 3 climate.  They are truly
outstanding, the best I have ever eaten.  There are a very small number of
Mount Royal trees in Edmonton, and they appear fully hardy, except during
our test winter of 95/96 when they experienced significant dieback.  We hit
-40C/F on three ocassions that winter.  So it appears to me Mount Royal is
fine and hardy down to about -37 or -38C without damage.  I'd highly
recommend trying them in zone 3 if you are looking for an outstanding plum
for fresh eating.

I had heard Yakima is even hardier, and better tasting than Mount Royal.
While Mount Royal is self fertile to a degree, better fruit set is obtained
by cross pollination with another European plum, so I grafted 4 branches of
Yakima on my small Mount Royal tree this spring.  Does anyone have first
hand experience with Yakima plum?  Is it truly better tasting than Mount
Royal, and even hardier?  If so Yakima must be one outstanding plum!  Comments?
Bernie Nikolai
Edmonton, Alberta


-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
Get FREE long-distance phone calls on Tellme!
Click here for the scoop:
http://click.egroups.com/1/9531/15/_/423498/_/970332267/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->