|
|
|
|||||
|
EARLY TRANSPARENT GAGE Also called Early Apricot and Rivers Early Transparent, it was raised and introduced by Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth in 1873. It is said to be a seedling of Old Transparent Gage, also known as Reine Claude Diaphane. The medium sized fruit is round and yellow with red dots and with a sweet, rich flavour. Fruits are ready in early August. Trees are self fertile and crop regularly. Middle flowering. |
|||
EIRIN BWLAS LILY JONES Brought to our notice by Mr Neville Lester, retired master mariner, of Caergeiliog, Anglesey, Wales. He and his wife, Gwen, still collect the fruit from the wild. The name Eirin Bwlas (Eirin suggesting some Irish link) is the Welsh for a wild bullace and Lily C. Jones was Gwen’s mother, who loved to gather and use the fruit. It was once a common tree on Anglesey and the Lleyn Peninsula, but is now found much less, due to population and development. It remains only in a few untouched areas. A purple-red, round bullace, at one time the main jam-making fruit for communities near the trees. It is also a very sweet, rich dessert plum, though quite small. Prolific fruits. Early to middle flowering. |
||||
FARLEIGH
DAMSON Also called Crittenden Damson and Cluster Damson. A very
old variety said to have been found growing wild in Kent, at Farleigh,
by a Mr James Crittenden around 1820. Hogg records it, in his Fruit Manual
of 1884, as Crittenden’s Damson. The small, rounded fruit is slightly
tapered and almost black, with a blue bloom, and somewhat larger and fatter
than most damsons. The fruit hangs in clusters, becoming ripe in the middle
of September, but often stays on the tree until November, when the fruits
become sweet and mellow. They remain juicy. When cooked they give up little
juice, are rich and sweet with little sugar needed. Medium vigour with
compact growth. The leaves are large for a damson. Good crops. Middle
flowering. |
||||
FRENCH
VICTORIA An excellent plum given to us by the late Joy Midwinter
of Witney. It is believed to have arisen with her grandfather, as a cross
between Victoria and a greengage, at the start of the 20th century. She
knew it in her grandfather’s orchard next to the church at Wolvercote,
Oxford, where she lived for several years. When she moved to Witney, her
father grafted a new tree, for her new home. It is now over 50 years old.
It was always known as French Victoria or French Victorious, by the family.
It is really quite large, oblong to round, amber and burnt red, sometimes
dark red, with a heavy bloom. Mrs Midwinter said it is self fertile, it
having regularly set fruit without any other close plum tree. The plums
are very sweet, juicy and of excellent flavour, produced in abundant quantity.
Middle flowering. |
||||
GIANT
PRUNE Also called Burbank’s Giant Prune. It was bred from
Prune D’Agen x Pond’s Seedling. An American plum, introduced
in 1895 and brought to England by Bunyard’s Nursery in 1897. Large,
mid to deep red fruit with purple patches and russet dots. The greenish-yellow
flesh becomes soft and juicy from early September, over a few weeks and
is good eaten raw. When cooked the plums develop an extra richness. Self
fertile. Late flowering. |
||||
GOLDEN
TRANSPARENT A ‘gage’ bred by Thomas Rivers, nurseryman
of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire. It is believed to be a seedling of the
old ‘Transparent Gage’ which was probably French. Golden Transparent
arose before 1894. It has a tidy growing habit and is reckoned to be self-fertile.
The fruit is large, oblong and golden yellow with red dots. The flesh
is rich, sweet, juicy and firm. Ripe late from September to early October.
Middle flowering. |
||||
HILPERTON
EGG An old, very local and endangered plum, kept going by Richard
Johnston, of Plymtree, Cullompton, Devon. The plum grew in West Wiltshire
at Hilperton, a village west of Trowbridge. Three suckers were given to
his father in 1954 by a Hilperton resident and Richard took suckers when
he moved to Plymtree around 2010. He doesn’t know if trees were
retained at his old house or locally, though he pointed out that the plums
were good and the trees known to be rare. The plum is vigorous, large,
yellow and red, egg shaped and for dessert use. The trees seem to be vigorous
and can grow to 20ft. Relatively easy to root from cuttings, they do well
on their own roots, and are said to succeed even on poor acidic soils.
Richard said he nearly lost his only tree to silverleaf and it had to
be cut down, but the roots were unaffected and he grew a tree from a sucker.
The name appears in none of the old references so its age can only be
guessed at. We are grateful to Richard for supplying scionwood, giving
us the history and keeping it from extinction. |
||||
JEFFERSON
GAGE An American gage, raised by Judge Buel of New York in 1825
and introduced to the London Horticultural Society by 1841. The large
fruit is yellow, flushed red and with a delicious flavour. The flesh is
pink and very juicy. Fruit is ripe in early September. Trees are self
sterile and incompatible with Coe's Golden Drop. Early to middle flowering. |
||||
KEA
Kea is a village just south of Truro, Cornwall and this cooking plum is
part of the historic fabric of the area, said to have been a chance seedling.
It is one of the plums that can be reproduced from cuttings or suckers.
A small rounded plum, with dark purple skin, ripe in early September,
or earlier in warm summers, with sweetish, juicy flesh, though too sharp
to enjoy raw. It has long been used for jam. There was also a Red Kea
known and now a yellow skinned Kea, but the dark skinned one seems to
be the earlier and legitimate one. A prolific and precocious fruiter,
which appears to be self fertile. Early to middle flowering. |
||||
KIRKE’S
BLUE Also called Old Brompton. Kirke had a nursery in the Brompton
Road, London. It has been a favourite plum since at least 1831, though
the hey-day of Kirke’s nursery was in the 18th century. The sweet,
juicy fruit with purple skin and greenish flesh is ripe in late August.
Crops are sometimes light though it is said to be resistant to cold. Self-sterile.
Tree growth is more dwarf and spreading than most. A good plum for drying.
Middle flowering. |
||||
|
||||