Plum, MethleyPrunus salicina
Produces a large reddish-purple fruit with red flesh. Heavy bearer. (Self-pollinating) (zones 5–9)
Zones 5 - 9
The Methley Plum can be expected to grow in the zones shown in color in the arborday.org zone map. (see map below)
Fruit Tree
The Methley Plum falls into the following type(s): Fruit Trees
10' - 20' High
The Methley Plum grows to be 10' - 20' feet in height.
10' - 20' Spread
The Methley Plum has a spread of about 10' - 20' at full maturity.
Medium Growth
This tree grows at a medium growth rate. [More about this.]
Full Sun
This plum does well in full sun.
Various Soils
This tree grows in a wide variety of soil types and has some tolerance for heavy and waterlogged soils. It prefers a well drained, loamy, mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soil.
Irregular Shape
This plum has irregular shape.
More Info
The Methley Plum can be expected to grow in the zones shown on this map.
Attributes:
A handsome, vigorous plum tree that does well in most soils. Sweetly fragrant, delicate white flowers bloom in profusion in early spring. The juicy reddish purple fruit has a sweet distinctive flavor good for eating fresh or in preserves.
Description:
A cultivar of Japanese plum, Methley is a small, upright, spreading tree. Japanese plum trees have a rougher bark and more persistant spurs than European plums. They also are more vigorous, disease resistant, and produce more flowers. They tolerate heat and need only a short period of winter dormancy. The early bloom time makes them susceptible to late spring frosts. The foliage is bright green. The white flowers are borne mostly in umbel-like clusters of 2-3 on short spurs, and solitary or 2-3 in axils of 1-yr-old wood. Blooms appear as early as February covered in snow..Fruiting begins in 2-4 years. Methley plum produces heavy, annual crops of juicy, sweet, red purple fruit that ripens from late May to early July. One crop requires several pickings. Japanese plums can be picked before they are completely ripe, since they will finish ripening off the tree. Methley is self fertile and serves as a good pollinator for early bearing Japanese varieties. Japanese and European plums cannot cross-pollinate each other, because they have different numbers of chromosomes. The growth rate is 15-20 inches per year. Plums require minimal pruning which should be done after flowering when the tree is still leafless. In the formative years, pruning can be to remove interior branches, water sprouts, growing scaffold branches, and dead, damaged, or diseased wood. In maturity, vigorous upright shoots are removed as fruiting increasingly occurs on spurs on older wood. Japanese plums do best when trained to an open center and need thinning for proper fruit development. (zones 5-9)
Wildlife Value:
Plum trees provide food and cover for butterfly larva, birds and mammals.
History/Lore/Use:
Falsely called Japanese plums, this species originated in China where it was cultivated for thousands of years. It was brought to Japan 200-400 years ago and now has spread around the world. Japanese plum are the most common fresh eating plums in the United States. They are larger, rounder (or heart shaped), and firmer than European plums and are primarily grown for the fresh market
Height Variations:
The standard grows to 20', and dwarf grows to 8' - 10' in height.
Spread Variations:
Standard to 20' dwarf to.10'
Moisture:
This tree requires moisture, but does well where rainfall and low humidity are minimal during the growing season. .
Leaves:
Simple, ovate or elliptic with acute or obtuse tips, finely toothed at margins, broad, bright green.
Flower Color:
White
Bloom Time:
Early.
Fruit Description:
Medium to large, round to conical drupe, purple red skin, juicy red flesh with a sweet, mild flavor, clingstone