A little early this year, the wild plum trees are blooming and `that means that Spring is not too far off in the Southern Hemisphere!
Prunus americana, commonly called the American plum or wild plum, is a species of Prunus native to North America from Saskatchewan to New Mexico east to New Hampshire and Florida. It has often been planted outside its core range and sometimes escapes cultivation. Many cultivated varieties have been derived from this species. It forms an excellent stock upon which to graft the domestic plum.
The wild plum grows as a large shrub or small tree, reaching up to 4.6 m. It is adapted to coarse- and medium-textured soils, but not to fine soils. The shrub is winter-hardy, but has little tolerance for shade, drought, or fire. Its growth is most active in spring and summer, and it blooms in midspring. It propagates by seed, but the rate of spread by seed is slow.
The wild plum is used for both ornamental and culinary purposes. The white flowers are decorative in spring and its short, single leader makes it a popular residential landscape tree. Sargent says of it: "As an ornamental plant P. americana has real value; the long wand-like branches form a wide, graceful head which is handsome in winter and in spring is covered with masses of pure white flowers followed by ample bright foliage and abundant showy fruit.
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Thanks for teaching us about that. Interesting plum tree. We had one when I was a kid and you'll never believe how much fruit it produced! I brought a pink ginger this week. Aloha friend. Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteSorry I joined last week's Floral Friday Fotos...must remember to wait until you post for the week! Love the plum blossoms. I used to paint plum blossoms on pottery in an oriental style.
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful. I've never heard of this shrub before. Thanks for the party.
ReplyDeleteIndeed a very lovely bloom. I'm glad to read about here.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and hosting.
Have a wonderful week.