Update on Luisa plum in Eastern Washington - 2023
Special Notice: One Green World Nursery offered (now sold out) Luisa this year
In 2014 I bought a Luisa plum tree from COSTCO propagated by Willow Drive Nursery, a wholesale nursery located in Ephrata, Washington. I had never heard of the Luisa, but got it along with several other COSTCO trees I planted that year in our home orchard. The Luisa fruited for the first time in 2016 (just a few plums) and then regularly thereafter. By 2018 I had learned that it was from New Zealand and that it had impressive, quite large free-stone fruit with good flavor - my wife calls it a sugar bomb. I began sharing scions with friends and discovered that it was not very available from U.S. nurseries (I think only Burnt Ridge Nursery and Raintree Nursery have carried it after it was no longer propagated by Willow Drive Nursery). Since it is very popular in New Zealand and Australia (see my story in box below), I have pondered why it has not caught on here yet among commercial growers (the customers of Willow Drive Nursery). Although it has really impressive fruit, it has two serious flaws from a commercial grower's perspective. First, it tends to be somewhat soft when dead ripe and hence it tends to bruise in even moderate handling (not a good candidate to ship to a market across the state or across the country). And secondly, it ripens over several days, requiring multiple pickings by the commercial grower. This second factor, multiple pickings, is actually a virtue for the home orchardist. And being soft when ripe is not a problem for a home orchardist, so it works out well for us to add it to our backyard fruit collections.
Q: When is a Luisa ripe?
A: When it falls on the staw I placed under the tree.
I am not kidding - several of my plums (including Luisa) annonce when they are ripe by their presence on the bed of straw that I place under the tree. So three or four plums fall each day over a period of many days (if the tree is still young). If you shake the tree then you might get seven or eight plums on the straw that day.
Another thing about some of my plums is that their flavor may differ from year to year like wine grapes (affected by factors like how many sunny days, how many cool nights, soil moisture, etc.). So we can't judge some plums by how they taste in a particular year - we have to taste it several years and then make a judgment. Some plums may be great in one location (or in one year) and disappointing in another. So far the Luisa has not disappointed in our climate and remains in my top three among the 40+ plum varieties that I have growing here.
I am reminded of the fact that both Tom Burford in Apples of North America: 192 Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks (p. 109) and Rowan Jacobsen in Apples of Uncommon Character: 123 Heirlooms, Modern Classics, & Little-Known Wonders (p. 77) include the Macoun as an extraordinary apple that made the cut into their books on the best of the best, but go on to almost make fun of it for some of its shortcomings. Application? You have to appreciate Luisa for its virtues and ignore its shortcomings.
[ Story about popularity in New Zealand and unavailability in US: In January of 2020 I got an email from a guy who was on vacation in New Zealand and had been stopping at little roadside fruit stands as he explored the countryside. He had tasted two varieties that he especially liked that were ripe at that time - Coe's Golden Drop and Luisa. He decided to go on line back at his hotel and order them to plant when he got back to the States. He could find Coe's Golden Drop, but no one was selling trees of the Luisa in the U.S. at that time. In googling "Luisa plum" he discovered that I had discussed it on a fruit tree forum and wondered if I had a tree of it that I could sell him. Sending him scions for grafting was the best I could do. ]
Q: When is a Luisa ripe?
A: When it falls on the staw I placed under the tree.
I am not kidding - several of my plums (including Luisa) annonce when they are ripe by their presence on the bed of straw that I place under the tree. So three or four plums fall each day over a period of many days (if the tree is still young). If you shake the tree then you might get seven or eight plums on the straw that day.
Another thing about some of my plums is that their flavor may differ from year to year like wine grapes (affected by factors like how many sunny days, how many cool nights, soil moisture, etc.). So we can't judge some plums by how they taste in a particular year - we have to taste it several years and then make a judgment. Some plums may be great in one location (or in one year) and disappointing in another. So far the Luisa has not disappointed in our climate and remains in my top three among the 40+ plum varieties that I have growing here.
I am reminded of the fact that both Tom Burford in Apples of North America: 192 Exceptional Varieties for Gardeners, Growers, and Cooks (p. 109) and Rowan Jacobsen in Apples of Uncommon Character: 123 Heirlooms, Modern Classics, & Little-Known Wonders (p. 77) include the Macoun as an extraordinary apple that made the cut into their books on the best of the best, but go on to almost make fun of it for some of its shortcomings. Application? You have to appreciate Luisa for its virtues and ignore its shortcomings.
[ Story about popularity in New Zealand and unavailability in US: In January of 2020 I got an email from a guy who was on vacation in New Zealand and had been stopping at little roadside fruit stands as he explored the countryside. He had tasted two varieties that he especially liked that were ripe at that time - Coe's Golden Drop and Luisa. He decided to go on line back at his hotel and order them to plant when he got back to the States. He could find Coe's Golden Drop, but no one was selling trees of the Luisa in the U.S. at that time. In googling "Luisa plum" he discovered that I had discussed it on a fruit tree forum and wondered if I had a tree of it that I could sell him. Sending him scions for grafting was the best I could do. ]
Below are some pictures of this year's crop taken the first week of September on my brother-in-law's tree. I should note that I prune my Asian plums every year to stimulate good new growth. My brother-in-law has just let his tree grow however it wanted. In the first photo (on left) you see that the Luisa is a freestone (other Japanese plums are usually clingstone). They measure about 2 to 2 1/2 inches from top to bottom (they have a kind of European prune profile, even though they are Japanese/Asian plums). The second picture (upper right) shows fruit on 2022 wood (Asian plums, peaches, and apricots typically bear fruit on last year's wood - 2022 wood). Now look at the third picture (lower left). This Luisa tree, unlike most kinds of Asian plums, peaches, and apricots, has lots and lots of fruit on short sprigs (twigs) on two and three year old limbs! That fourth picture there on the lower right shows a cluster of fruit on sprigs off the large four-year old upright limb! You do see sprigs/twigs on some peaches, apricots, and Asian plums, but they usually don't have productive fruit buds on them like this Luisa has.
Only One Green World nursery had (they are out now) the Luisa plum for spring 2024 planting. Check it out here.
Only One Green World nursery had (they are out now) the Luisa plum for spring 2024 planting. Check it out here.
Other Plums - 2023 Review
I have just updated my review of the 40+ plums that I grow. This review can be helpful in selecting plum trees from bare root suppliers for 2024 planting and also for identifying varieties for grafting in the 2024 grafting season. You can download it as a Word document here.
If you want to build out a 10-variety plum orchard, these are the ones that I would recommend:
Early season: Methley, Oullins
Mid season: Luisa, Victory, Monsieur Hatif, Imperial Epineuse, Opel
Late season: President, Coe's Golden Drop, Moyer
If you have the space consider adding Mount Royal, Elma's Choice, Casteleton, Bavey's Gage, Gras Romanesc .
If you get the above varieties on either St. Julian A or Krymsk 1 rootstock they will come into production a little faster (those rootstocks induce precociousness) and be a little easier to maintain at a 7 or 8 foot heights.
If you want to build out a 10-variety plum orchard, these are the ones that I would recommend:
Early season: Methley, Oullins
Mid season: Luisa, Victory, Monsieur Hatif, Imperial Epineuse, Opel
Late season: President, Coe's Golden Drop, Moyer
If you have the space consider adding Mount Royal, Elma's Choice, Casteleton, Bavey's Gage, Gras Romanesc .
If you get the above varieties on either St. Julian A or Krymsk 1 rootstock they will come into production a little faster (those rootstocks induce precociousness) and be a little easier to maintain at a 7 or 8 foot heights.
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