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My flowering plum is producing fruit. #879119
Asked July 28, 2024, 2:03 PM EDT
My flowering purple leaf plum is producing some fruit this year. I thought it was just an ornamental plum? It has never done that in the 19 years we have had it. Why would it do this? Are the plums edible?
El Paso County Colorado
Expert Response
Thanks for your question. Your flowering purple leaf plum is possibly a Newport Plum (Prunus cerasifera) . They can produce a small, dark, cherry tomato sized fruit. Sometimes our trees fail to fruit due to late frosts and they bloom quite early so pollination is often limited due to limited pollinators. The fruits are quite inconspicuous so maybe it did produce fruit in years past but the squirrels and birds found them first. Technically, Newport plums are edible but the eating quality of most ornamentals is quite poor and might be best left for the wildlife. I have a attached an article on edibility of ornamental fruit.
Thank you,
Pam
Master Gardener
https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/article/2003/8-8-2003/edilbility.html
Thank you.
