Superior Plum Tree

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Description

A plum tree for northern gardens. This robust tree produces abundant crops of fire-red fruit with sweet, juicy, yellow flesh. Dessert plums like these are ideal for eating fresh off the tree. Originates from University of Minnesota in 1933. Cold-hardy. Clingstone. Ripens in July. (Prunus americana x Prunus salicina)

Characteristics

Bloom Color White
Bloom Time Mid - Late
Chill Hours 600 - 800
Fruit Color Red
Fruit Size Large
Hardiness Zone Range 4 - 8
Pollination Pollinator Required
Ripens/Harvest July
Shade/Sun Full Sun
Soil Composition Loamy
Soil Moisture Well Drained
Soil pH Level 6.0 - 7.0
Taste Sweet
Texture Firm, Fine Texture
Years to Bear 3 - 6

Zone Compatibility

This Variety's Zone Range 4 - 8
My Hardiness Zone ?
The USDA hardiness zones offer a guide to varieties that will grow well in certain climates. Each zone corresponds to the minimum winter temperatures experienced in a given area. Make sure that your hardiness zone lies within the zone compatibility range of this variety before ordering.

Pollination

This variety requires another one for adequate pollination.

Cross-pollination by a different variety is key to its growing and bearing success. Plant one of these varieties within 100' for best pollination.

Tools & Supplies

Having the proper tools and supplies when growing your own can make the difference between a good harvest and a great harvest! Here's a list that our experts recommend for this variety.

Planting & Care

Learn all about how to grow plum trees in The Growing Guide. An entire section of our website dedicated to your growing success.

Tags

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Questions & Answers

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19 Questions
Why did you choose this?

good for zone 4a love the taste of plums two other plums that we have (black ice and waneta) will pollinate

need to pollinate my bubblegum plum. also superior is very productive of delicious plums

Hardy for my zone

reliable producer

Is the Superior plum tree a European Plum Tree or a Japanese plum tree? I am wondering what the best method of pruning is.

It's a cross between Japanese and American plum tree.

What if I don’t have a pollinator tree? Will my superior plum tree still produce?

No, it will not; that is the purpose of a pollinator, to pollinate the flower in order to form the fruit. You will get flowers, but no fruit (unless your neighbor has a suitable pollinator in their yard).

What other varieties would be good pollinators for the Superior plum?

Bubblegum® plum is ideal (as it is another American hybrid plum variety, Toka cv.), but other hybrid plum varieties like Pipestone, Waneta, and Alderman will also work. I've heard that Shiro, Methley, and Santa Rosa may work, but I wouldn't recommend these over the rest.

Do you sell chilian dark cherry trees as I live in south Tampa?

I am sorry we do not offer that variety.

What root stock is this am looking for one that does good in clay soil?

We appreciate you reaching out to us. We use several different rootstocks, depending upon the desired result and what is available. For that reason, we're unable to guarantee a specific rootstock. Planting in clay soil is hard and typically wil not be sufficient for growing fruit trees. You can ammend the clay soil though by adding organic matter, aerate the soil, and add gypsum or lime.

If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to reach back out to us. Have a great day!

Is this tree self pollinating?

No and pollinators can be found on the product page listed to the right of the page.

We live in Nebraska and wild plums are abundant on our property. Will they work for a pollinator for the Santa Rosa plum?

The Santa rosa is self pollinating and does nto require any other tree to bear fruit.

I would love to be able to grow these plum trees in my very northern climate (zone 4A), but it seems the trees needed to pollinate do not work in my zone. Am I out of luck?

More than likley it may be that it is too cold for its pollinators. I recommend reaching out to your county extension office to see what they recommend for your growing zone.

Many of your plum trees don't offer a dwarf variety. Will you have dwarf varieties some time in the future?

We appreciate you reaching out to us. We do not have a guaranteed ETA on when more will become available. We are very sorry for this inconvenience and completely understand your disappointment. We recommend checking back in early spring.

Standard or dwarf? What size and spacing can I expect? For the Superior Plum tree?

The space needed for this variety to grow depends on the size you plant:
Standard18 - 20'
Dwarf8 - 10'

Customer Reviews

32 Ratings
4.2out of 5 stars
32 Ratings

Rated 5 stars by 62% of reviewers

Rated 4 stars by 12% of reviewers

Rated 3 stars by 12% of reviewers

Rated 2 stars by 3% of reviewers

Rated 1 star by 9% of reviewers

1-10 of 32 Reviews
Rated 5 out of 5
Jan 6, 2025
Nice tree
My plum trees are doing good lots of plums.They were a fast grower.
Rated 5 out of 5
Jul 13, 2024
Very nice plum tree with lush foliage and strong truck. Received March 2024.
Rated 5 out of 5
Jun 15, 2023
Happy so far.
The tree was planted this late spring (2023) and is doing great. It has been in the ground for a couple of months and looks really good.
Rated 5 out of 5
Jul 30, 2022
So far, so good
.Tree has done well in its first season after planting.
Rated 5 out of 5
Jul 25, 2022
Trees came well packaged with some kind of packaging to hold moisture. I was very pleased as the branches they used to graft the tree where very stout and straight. I purchased trees form a name brand competitor and I was amazed at how much nicer the stark trees appeared to be in size and root health. Although both seem to be growing just as well as each other. The stark trees just seem more along in size and strength of limb used.
Rated 5 out of 5
May 19, 2020
First year fruiting
planted fall of 2017, spring 2020 is first year to fruit.

Great growth every year. Dont remember height that it was at when i received planted it (maybe 2 1/2 ft), but its over 10 feet tall now.

Tree was covered with blossoms this year but two late frosts took its toll. Now im looking at maybe 20-30 plums per tree as of mid may.
Rated 5 out of 5
Mar 10, 2020
Superior Plum Is Superior In Zone 7B!
In the spring of '19, I planted my Superior Stark bare root plum in a long row in front of my property with my other more established Stark plum trees. Normally, I pot all my new trees for six months in Miracle Grow potting soil before planting. This time, I planted this bare root tree in the field as soon as it arrived, and found myself soon having to prune many quickly forming low branches off of it during the year. It replaced a Stark pear I removed that had grown large but sparsely ever bloomed and never produced in that same spot for 40 years - despite all my other Stark pears bearing heavily in the adjacent row. This now 6 foot tall Superior plum, along with all the other older Stark plums, is currently blooming profusely this March here in central Alabama! It has doubled in size since planting it, but it certainly isn't large enough yet to support a heavy burden of fruit yet. So, I will have to remove most, if not all of the fruit already beginning to form on this Superior plum in this unusual early spring. I will say the tree is currently really beautiful in bloom. The pears are just starting to bloom now, but the plums are all looking great in full bloom already for well over a week! With all the blooms, it looks like all of my Stark pear, peach, and plum trees are going to produce heavily this year. While most of my Stark trees were only planted two years ago, a few have only been planted for less than a year and even they are looming! The only pears not blooming are the youngest Stark pears - which were only planted within the last two years. All my Stark peach trees are blooming - including those I purchased and planted in the fall of '19. I even have two out of several new young Apricots from Stark already in bloom! One of these is a small Wilson Dwarf Apricot I just received in February of this year - that is still in the pot it came in! WOW, just WOW, Stark! Now I'm just waiting to see how many of my new Stark cherries and blueberries will bloom or just leaf out when they wake up this year!
Rated 5 out of 5
May 16, 2019
Best in show
I planted 10 fruit trees from Stark last Spring and this has been a very pleasant surprise. We had a long cold winter with up to 30" of snow for most of it. This plum is prolific, and tiny flowers are budding right now.
Rated 5 out of 5
May 11, 2019
Superior
It has been a year and the tree is very healthy. Had to keep Japanese beetles off it, went through their rath very well. This spring it looks very healthy.
Rated 5 out of 5
May 8, 2019
Highly recommend!
I planted this last spring in zone 4. It grew beautifully the first summer, I didn’t measure but it must have put on at least 18 inches. We had -30 weather in February and This spring it is blooming! Looking forward to getting plums eventually!