I don't know how Methely performs outside my area but there is absolutely no doubt, from my experience at maybe 25 different sites, that it is extremely susceptible to black knot and more so than any of the other 20-25 varieties of plums I grow at multiple sites. It is, nevertheless, a useful plum here except at the worst sites for this disease. Just expect to have to do a lot of cutting out of black knot and maybe replace the tree after about 10 years (if your site is bad for it). Also, ask any of those commercial growers what is their most difficult apple to grow and I suspect the answer will be Honeycrisp. I have spoken about it to the Crop Production System"s main consultant to commercial growers in the Hudson Valley. He call's Honeycrisp twice as difficult to grow as any other major apple but worth it because of the high price per bin it receives from distributors. This year at mine and two other sites where I grow it on 6 different trees and three different rootstocks, 90% of the crop rotted before it achieved decent quality. I am not providing calcium sprays (as commercial growers do) and there may be something I haven't pinpointed that I'm doing wrong, but no other apple I grow gives me so much trouble. These trees performed well before they reached full maturity with well established root systems. Scott, I made a mistake when I wrote Queen Rosa, I was actually talking about Ruby Queen, although I do manage a small QR as well, which has excellent fruit but may also have the same reliability issues as Santa Rosa and here, the same susceptibility to cold related cambium damage. I will correct my initial statement to say that I consider Ruby Queen to be an excellent and easy to grow J. plum and the best late season J. plum I grow if you factor in overall performance including resistance to bacterial spot. It was also bred for the south and seems to be highly regarded for both quality and reliability there. People that want an extremely sweet plum may be disappointed with it, though. I sometimes wonder if your evaluations also include input from other friends. I am certainly influenced by the opinions of my customers and friends of fruit from their own trees and what I supply them to sample. I have customers who believe their own Methely trees produce the best plums in the world (maybe not the ones who've sampled a wide variety of other plums, though). It appears that Satsuma is going to require at least annual sprays of copper here to help limit bacterial spot. This is not an issue with more common east coast plums I grow here- at least at most sites. My main tree was healthy for the first 4 years but has gotten increasingly infected in the last 2.

Many thanks! I bet you're right :-). USDA Plants has it in the next county, so it's probably here, too. Non-native, but not labeled as invasive.

My guess would be Croton sp. Here is a link that might be useful: Croton capitatus

hhh, I can give you a little insight on Thamno. Tessellatus as I grow this variety in 7a (SE VA). Your climate doesn't look as severe as mine (per weather underground) so I think you can grow this type with the right siting. The biggest difference being you might need a little more protection during the winter. Note that I wouldn't recommend this type if you're an absentee gardener (unless a water timer is used). They need to be watered and fertilized regularly in the spring/summer to stay strong and beat the heat. My climate >> Summer temps are 85~95 F during the day, 70~75F at night, relatively high humidity most of the time. As for sun exposure, my most exposed plants get 6~8 hrs of direct morning sun with dappled afternoon shade. My hunch is that a full afternoon of southern sun may be too much due to its strength (just speculation). Also my soil is pretty sandy so drainage is good, no standing water. WRT to your question about water/humidity, the key is to view the plant as living in two environments, one above ground (influenced by humidity) and one below ground (influenced by water/moisture levels). In the PNW, summer temperatures don't get as high as in the SE. Warmer air can hold larger amounts of water vapor (humidity) than cooler air. So while plants in the PNW see moderate humidity during the summer (along with high avg rainfall), plants in the SE are swimming in humidity and have to deal with only moderate rainfall (or none like last year). The native habitats of many of the mountain bamboos have similar environments to that of the PNW, so they grow well. But we can do it too :) If you end up getting a TT and have any specific questions, let me know.