We will first take you through several factors to make an informed decision about a particular variety of plums if the variety is self-pollinating or requires cross-pollination with another tree. Secondly, if the tree resists common diseases, it helps you plan for its care and maintenance. You can’t really make a color look shiny on a screen, but Shiny Purple is almost neon. Much like a gleaming color would, Shiny Purple easily catches the eye. Traffic Purple is a reddish medium purple that’s warmer than many purple shades. It’s part of the European RAL color matching system. The RAL system is popular in a handful of European countries, including Italy, France, and Germany.

A very early cropping plum variety which stands frost at blossom time very well. One of the sweetest of all the eating plums. Self fertile, cropping in early to mid July. This is a new variety which looks to be a very good choice. MIRABELLE The Greengage Plums are a variety of plums that look unripe due to their color. The shade of green that its skin has makes it like the unripe fruits and can be a little deceiving. Therefore, not going by the color, the Greengage Plums are green when they are mature. Lever E, Cole J, Scott SM, Emery PW, Whelan K. Systematic review: the effect of prunes on gastrointestinal function. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2014;40(7):750-758. doi:10.1111/apt.12913 The word “pompadour” refers to a distinctive hairstyle where the front of the hair is swept upward. Though it was popularized by Madame de Pompadour, one of the mistresses of King Louis XV, it is now especially popular as a men’s hairstyle. This color seems like an appropriate representation. It’s proud without being overly gaudy or hard on the eyes. The plums can be eaten raw although the texture is not nearly as juicy as many other plum or greengage varieties. Their primary use is for cooking and they make excellent tarts and jams. OPAL

Named for the ancient Greek city of Byzantium (now Constantinople), Byzantium and Dark Byzantium are reminiscent of splendor. If you prefer a darker, more demure version of the classic Byzantium, you may find Dark Byzantium to be to your liking. This pretty color is similar to lilac, and it’s a versatile choice if you want a light purple that isn’t quite a pastel. Pale purple would do well in a palette with other pale versions of cool colors, and it also looks good with neutrals like brown or gray.

Plum trees are best planted during the dormant season, before growth starts in late winter or early spring. Bare-root trees are only available while dormant, but containerised trees are available all year round – they can potentially be planted at any time, but will settle in best from late autumn to spring. As with most Japanese varieties of plums, Simca plums are larger and juicer. These delicious plums are best eaten fresh due to their juicy flesh. Mirabelle Plums Plucots come under the category of late-season, with their fruits being ready for harvest (become ripe) by the end of July or August. Therefore, they are suitable for imports and are exported to other countries with ease. PluotsPlanting plum plants and caring for them is also a great way to connect to nature. There is nothing more satisfactory than having a juicy bite of ripe plum you grow yourself. Though this color is described as pink, it has more of a purple cast. It also has an interesting history. Mountbatten Pink was used as a camouflage color for ships in WWII by Lord Mountbatten of Britain. Though Mountbatten believed that it worked, experts generally agreed that, if anything, being painted Mountbatten Pink actually made ships more obvious.

Santa Rosa plums are suitable for many uses, including eating fresh or using in baked goods. Satsuma (Blood Plum) This shade falls somewhat closer to blue than red on the color scale, producing a dark, violet shade used in the print materials of Kansas State University. It is almost identical to northwestern purple. Red fruits are not only appetizing to look at and delicious to eat, but they are also extremely healthy. In many pomes, citrus fruits, drupes, and berries, the red color comes from anthocyanins and carotenoids. These antioxidants in purple or red fruits and vegetables, and natural vitamin C and other minerals, are vital for good health. Depending on the anthocyanins content, fruits can range in color from orange to bright red or dark, almost purple-red.

Italian Prune Plum

Like Plucots, the name of this plum variety suggests that it is also a hybrid plum. Well, this one is also a hybrid between an apricot and a plum, with more characteristics of a plum than an apricot (70 percentage of Plum and 30 of Apricot); this makes it more of a plum than Plucot, its contemporary. Avoid pruning plum trees during the dormant season or in mid- to late autumn, to minimise the risk of infection from silver leaf disease and bacterial canker

The greengage plum is one of the few green varieties of plums when they are ripe. The plums are small and round and have a delicious honey-sweet taste. The juicy flesh has a firm texture that is common with many European plums. Depending on the greengage plum cultivar, the green skin can have hints of red blushing or yellow on it. Many consider greengage plums as the best plums to use in desserts.Research from 2017 found that a potassium-rich diet helped reduce artery stiffening in mice with high cholesterol diets. This neon-like shade is very similar to Electric Purple. It’s perfect to use wherever you need a pop of color. However, Hot Purple also works nicely in summery color palettes where you need several bright, attention-grabbing colors. Plums were one of the first fruits we humans domesticated, which means we’ve have thousands of years to breed new varieties of plums. There are way too many to list them all here, but here are some of the main varieties you may come across.