My impression of this plum is that for quite some time people have felt it was not one of the best plums. Many heritage plums continue to be grown but this one was felt inferior. Here is what Plums of New York circa 1911 says: Although one of the oldest plums under cultivation, probably the oldest of the prune type, the German Prune is still as largely grown, the world over, as any; and is seemingly more widely disseminated than any other plum. It is a little difficult, in America at least, to see why this fruit holds its popularity so long, for it is surpassed by other plums in many horticultural characters, and when all of its characters, most of which are very good, are combined there are still plums which it does not excel. In most of the attributes which gratify the senses, color, size, shape, taste and smell, it falls below expectations for a plum so universally planted. Undoubtedly the wide distribution of this plum is due somewhat to its many variations. The fruit comes almost true to seed and is often propagated by planting pits, a practice which has given many slightly different strains of this variety, each with somewhat different adaptations. This quote alone probably helped its demise as this book has been the leading book on plums in the US for the last hundred years. Was the plum really inferior? Its hard to say. Fruits go in and out of fashion and even scientific writers such as Hedrick, who wrote the above, are susceptible to those whims. One example is the low opinion Hedrick had of the "Indian" peaches (Indian Cling and Free), which have won recent taste tests at Dave Wilson. My view is that is more the exception than the rule however. Scott

We decided to go with a tire because the guy that cuts the lawn has run over many trees that my dad planted. He did not put protection on them so hopefully the mower guy will get the idea that he can't run these things over. I had a harder time than I thought finding the supplies. One guy at Menard's didn't even know what tree wrap was. I thought I'd have better luck at Home Depot and I purchased remesh panels but then they wouldn't fit in my van. We ended up at Bomgaar's and found the welded wire. Neither Home Depot nor Menard's had welded wire in decent gage. Hindsight is 20/20. I just feel really relieved to have the trees in the ground. I don't have much hope for the Indian Free peach, but I put it in the ground anyway. I think my aunt is a little overwhelmed, but I know how she loves fruit and I think she will enjoy watching the trees grow. Fortunately this first year there won't be too much to do. I only wish I had done this for my grandmother when she was alive. She used to scrounge from abandoned fruit trees in the area. The one apple tree I gave her when I was in my teens did thrive. We are working to rejuvenate it and bring it down. My biggest regret has been coming home and trying to dig in my Colorado clay filled with river rock. What I wouldn't give for some of the good soil she has. But alas, the humidity is much lower here and that means a lot fewer pests and diseases.

Sand cherry looks so nice when ripe but I almost cried when I ate it. It truely was the worst fruit I've tasted. Also over the years listening to the nurserys say things like nankings and samdcherry as pollinators is actually a joke. Sand cherry doesn't even push buds here until my plums are pretty much done blooming. It's also an aphid magnet if I remember correctly the sand cherry shoots out green and flowers at the same time but the new green shoots don't even get a chance here so I ripped them all out and discovered prunus Americana and how well it pollinates.

I remember when Nadia's patent was first published in 2009, I got so excited to see the first plum x cherry hybrid been patented and possibly been released to the U. S market. But when I saw it was only available in Australia, I got disappointed. Nevertheless, I still followed the news articles about this hybrid. And then, this year: Surprise! Raintree Nursery had them on sale! As soon I saw it on Raintree's page, I ordered one, followed by another one two weeks later.