figured out why the mexican plum smells so strong

[bj taylor]

i love the scent. it carries in the wind like a whisper, or is it a hollar? i figure since so little is blooming, it sends the message to those starving pollinators just waking up that food is available & hence it gets it's little plums pollinated. mine took a beating last year w/construction - wasn't sure it was ok - but it's blooming up a storm

 

[897tgigvib]

Those look like Santa Rosa Plums. Do they have spike thorns too?

 

[digitS']

There are wild plums in eastern Oregon, BJ. They are the Klamath plum. I wonder if yours are similar - however, they don't have but a light fragrance.

There is an old one growing beside my big veggie garden. It blooms very early. Apparently, too early. What it is doing here, I have only a guess :/. I figure either a bird (maybe a seagull) ate that plum, seed and all, then carried it about 500 miles north or, somebody picked a box of plums and left the surplus of them at the edge of a rock pile where it is growing now. The owner, who had his house built there about 35 years ago doesn't even know where the original farmhouse was - let alone what a Klamath plum is, until I told him.

He is to be forgiven because the poor old tree makes about 10 plums each year. They are well back in the branches where I assume the blossoms are protected from the severe frosts that still occur after it smothers itself in flowers! I think day length prompts it to flower too early for here. The bees love it, however . . . and I always get a shirt pocket full of tart fruit .

Steve

 

[nelson castro]

Mexican Plum is covered with fragrant white flowers that are up to one inch wide. The fruits are edible, although tart, and can be used to make jam.

 

[bj taylor]

marshall they are thorny. not very friendly, but they're such an important wildlife plant. they have a nice shape too. sometimes, they'll grow in a thicket. mine is a lone ranger.

 

[897tgigvib]

I do kind of think they are one of the ancestors of Santa Rosa Plums.