My favorite really early plum is Spring Satin, I have only had a couple years of fruiting on it but the fruits are very similar to Flavor Supreme pluot (i.e., outstanding), and the tree actually sets a good crop every year unlike FS. It is a plumcot, not a plum. The standard early plum is Methley, it makes it to "pretty good" in taste and is also super reliable and productive, and is self-pollinating. Whether you get a good crop with a single tree can be iffy on Japanese plums so I would put two trees in one hole just for good measure. A Spring Satin and a Satsuma for example would be a great combo, one late June and the other about a month later. Or, just go with the Methley. Another plum I really like is Purple Heart, it is between the Spring Satin and Satsuma. I still have a dozen or more Japanese plum varieties that have yet to fruit, and I am hoping to get a few more winners. Oh, Superior is also pretty good but I think it tastes better in other climates -- mine are too sour and soft. Shiro is another good plum to consider. None of these guys have ever rotted, but some of the later Japanese plums are prone to rot. Howard Miracle is a mess of rot, and Wickson is pretty bad.

Scott

Scott-

You have yet to taste a Flavor King off your tree (or did you remove it)? I wonder how these stack up. Everything I've read off the net, says that is one of the best fruits out there (straight from the hands of God it would seem). I know its a rot magnet, but some have suggested it may get better with age. I want one, but am scared about rot. Last summer was not normal here (most humid summer i've ever had) so something like FK might do ok if we get a few cold fronts and keep humidity low.

Scott, is Spring Satin more plum than cot? Does it flower with the former? I will have to try that one somehow.

I have seen Methely produce surprisingly high quality fruit when it is very well thinned early. When the fruit is big it has all the attributes I expect from a red fleshed plum. Getting it properly thinned can be quite a bit of work, however. To get size it also needs water through dry periods. Too much water doesn't seem to make it bland.

Frank, I have had exactly one absolutely dyn-o-mite plum off of my Flavor King in eight years. I was going to remove it this winter but fruitnut convinced me to give it a stay of execution, and I am going to try some MFF on it to see if that helps. It is in my back orchard which is the high rot spot and I am not sure how much that had to do with it.

I have had only bad Methley plums hman, but they were not ones I grew myself and based on their small size they were probably not thinned well.

Spring Satin is not like a pluot, it has more observable apricot characters. In particular the skin is very slightly fuzzy, thus the "satin" in the name. Its a beautiful look really, like frosted glass. The taste is mostly plum but the texture is a touch of 'cot as well. It flowers like an early plum, just a bit after the apricots. The one disadvantage I have found is the optimal picking window is not super big - they are good for some time, then they soften and are fantastically aromatic and just as good as Flavor Supreme, but that doesn't last so long, the flavor goes back to just good pretty soon.

Scott

How many years have you cropped them?

Two I think, or maybe three. So, take my report as preliminary.

Scott

Sounds like Spring Satin or Metheley is the way to go. Thanks guys. I am assuming Spring Satin is self-fertile. Is that right?

No, only Methley is. That is why I suggested planting it with a Satsuma. If you don't want to put two trees in one hole just do the Methley. I'm not sure how reliable Methley will be by itself, it will probably be OK but it may bear more lightly than you would want.

Scott

Thanks for that correction. When you speak of planting two trees in one hole do you mean planting them as it were trunk to trunk so that the trunks may eventually join, or rather planting them close together but some distance apart -- e.g. 1-2 feet apart? I would imagine that either way this would have a dwarfing effect on the trees (not a bad result).

Either way can work; I haven't done many of them but when I do I put them pretty close so it will look like a "V" coming out of the ground when they are full-grown and I think that looks nicer. But, it boils down to aesthetics. Do make sure they are on the same rootstock and they are equally well positioned w.r.t. the sun position in the sky, or one can dominate more than the other.

Scott