Plum, Burbank - - Prunus salicina
The Burbank plum is a Japanese plum cultivar. The branches fork frequently, spread low and wide giving a flat topped appearance, and often droop. The foliage is bright green. The white flowers have five oval petals in umbrel-like clusters of 2-3 on short spurs, and solitary or 2-3 in axils of one year old wood. They bloom early making them susceptible to late frost. Fruiting begins in 2-4 years. The skin of the plums is red-purple with a yellow blush, and the amber flesh is firm, juicy, and sweet. The fruit ripens in July to August. It is best when picked before fully ripe. Burbank plum prefers non-alkaline, sandy loam soils with good drainage. The site should be sunny and free of early frost. Rainfall and high humidity during the growing season can reduce production by accentuating diseases and cause fruit cracking.
Plums require minimal pruning which should be done after flowering when the tree is still leafless. In the formative years, pruning can be to remove interior branches, water sprouts, growing scaffold branches, and dead, damaged, or diseased wood. In maturity, vigorous upright shoots are removed as fruiting increasingly occurs on spurs on older wood. Japanese plums do best when trained to an open center and need thinning for proper fruit development. (Pollinate with a different Japanese plum variety) (zones 5-9)