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| Santa Rosa Plum |
Dave Wilson is my grower of choice. Here's their descriptor:
Most popular plum in California & Arizona. Juicy, tangy, flavorful. Reddish-purple skin, amber flesh tinged red. Late June in Central Calif. 300 hours. Self-fruitful.The 300 hours means the requirement of hours below 45° F needs to be at least 300 hours. That's the chill hours. Those chill hours help the tree go into a nice, deep sleep and produce fruit that will set and develop good quality. No problemo here in Bakersfield.
Each year since planting the deciduous trees, the Santa Rosa has been the first to break bud. 2013 is no exception. Here's the accumulated history:
- February 20, 2009
- February 14, 2010
- February 24, 2011
- February 11, 2012
- February 16, 2013
March usually brings winds in the valley. The winds thin the fruit naturally. Sadly, last March the wind about knocked out the entire crop. I can't stand the wind. Dust, dirt, broken limbs, birds' nests knocked down, Valley Fever spores. It's just a mess. Let's all hope that the winds won't be so vicious this year.
Here's to an average or better than average year for Santa Rosa.
4 comments:
It also grows quite well here in Santa Rosa. I haven't checked whether our neighbor's tree has buds yet, but I imagine it will be soon.
Interestingly enough, we were at Luther Burbank's home yesterday, showing it off to some out of town friends.
Love those plums., I had a wonderful tree in my previous garden. Wish I had it here.
Good luck with your crop.
This is funny....this comment got lost so I wrote another briefer one and posted it. It suddenly reappeared on my screen, so here it is.
I had a wonderful plum tree when I lived on the city side of the Hollywood Hills. I think it was a Sant Rosa.
One year it was so heavy with fruit I could not pick enough and i had to go away on a business trip for a week. I begged my neighbors to go into my garden and pick fruit They failed me. I came home to find several branches broken off and lying on the ground.....the fruit was so heavy. Wish I had it in my garden here.
Good luck with your crop.
300 hours below 45 degrees, then loves hot summer days. Great information. And I love that you have kept records of its first bud break, too. I hope you get load of plums!
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