Looks like the fruit lords and this forum have been good to me as my two year old dwarf Spring Satin Plumcot is loaded with delicious fruit! You can see the three styles of "protection" ( footies, cotton bag and green oragoma (sp) bags) being used in an experiment to learn about how well they keep bidrs/squirrels away and how long they take to apply and how many fruit are ruined in the process! The mockingbirds started feeding on them so I put out the bags. Right now many still have yellow flesh inside and are sweet/sour, but a few are ripening (red flesh) and are out-of-this-world sweet like a bing cherry! My flavor delight aprium just set a dozen fruit and estimate they will be ripe within 30 days. The stark bros plum and apricot that came with the order are loaded and will probably be ready to eat within 30 days as well. Your help and a little luck have been invaluable. Thank you.

To the question about characteristics of Pluots, Plumcots and Apriums: Pluots have mostly plum characteristics. Apriums have mostly Apricot characteristics. Plumcots tend to have characteristics of both. Fruitnut mentions Flavorella above - very flavorful but hard to pollenize and grow. There is an old Zaiger plumcot called "Plum Parfait" that looks like an apricot with some red marbling. It is no longer sold by DWN, but I think it's still available. I haven't tasted it. Supposed to be self-fruitful. There is a UDSA variety bred for the upper Southeast, Spring Satin, which others can fill you in on. It was over-hyped by a disreputable nursery in Florida and other nurseries (shamefully) adopted their description. It looks like a plum with a little fuzz. I have an old Luther Burbank plumcot variety, sold by wholesaler L.E. Cook. Variety name is not identified. It's a small, easy-care tree with beautiful bark and foliage and blossoms larger and showier than on most culinary plums. You will never find this plumcot in a grocery store. Fruits are apricot-sized or smaller, pastel yellow with a red blush when ripe. It softens while still tart. When perfectly ripe, it is very soft with a pleasant, mildly sweet flavor which reminds me of rose water. It is nothing like the bolder-flavored Pluots. It has a very short harvest window, and over-ripe fruits quickly disintegrate into mush. It often bears some fruit on the main branches as well as on newer growth. It does not bear young, but seems to be self-pollenizing and is about as reliable and prolific as the typical Japanese plum. The best use I can think of for the excess fruit that comes on all at once is mixing it with stronger-flavored fruits in fruit leather.

I may be wrong and someone may come along with just the info you are looking for...but it seems like you are wanting us to write a book for you. If you don't get the response you want, you might want to try to greatly narrow the scope of your inquiry. As it is, I could see a five-thousand page response possibly not totally answering your questions. Have you done a GardenWeb search and read through the results (especially from the Fruit and Orchards Forum)? What type of other resources have you used so far?

I am in SW Louisiana on the 9a/8b line and have planted Tri-lite, Flavor Grenade, and Sweet Treat Pluery, and Spicezee nectaplum over the last 2-3 years (along with other plums and peaches). So far the only one that I have tasted fruit from was the Tri-Lite, which I thought was good, what was your issue with Tri-Lite?