Santa Rosa Plum Tree
$104.99
Begins shipping mid-April.
Zones 5 - 9
Self-Pollinating
A long-standing top pick for home gardeners!
About The Santa Rosa Plum Tree
Famous horticulturist and plant breeder introduced the Santa Rosa Plum (named after his home city) in 1906. A long-standing top pick for both home gardeners and farm-stand growers, this dependable plum is still among the world’s most popular.
Santa Rosa is a Japanese variety (prunus salicina). Its showy, heather-pink blooms are extremely showy and sweetly fragrant in the spring, a stunning statement in your landscape. The blossoms give way to attractive bright-green leaves throughout the summer.
This variety typically requires fewer years to start bearing a crop than other plum varieties. Just one Santa Rosa tree can produce an impressive amount of fruit, making it a good choice for home gardeners or homesteaders with limited growing space.
Large yields feature fruit with interior yellow flesh that gradually becomes deep purple-red as it gets closer to the thin skin. These plums are known for their sweet, slightly tart taste, extreme juiciness and small pit.
As a rule, plums are high in vitamins A, C, and K and are a good source of fiber. The deeply dark-red color of Santa Rosa indicates that the fruit is chock-full of antioxidants known as anthocyanins.
Using the Fruit
Japanese plums can be canned, made into jam/jelly, pies and fruit tarts, wine, syrup or even baby food. They are also wonderful as part of recipe featuring any kind of pork, or in Asian dishes. Note: Japanese plums are not the best choice for drying into prunes because of their high water content, which can cause the plums to ferment in the process.
Growing Santa Rosa Plum Trees
All plum trees require at least 6 hours of full sun each day. Over the winter months, the tree needs 500 chill hours (below 45º) to produce fruit. Always refer to the USDA Hardiness Zones to see if the tree is a good choice for your geographic area.
Santa Rosa is self-pollinating, but cross-pollinating it with a different Japanese variety will increase your crop size and fruit quality.
Buy a Santa Rosa plum tree and preserve a bit of horticultural history, with the bonus of delicious, fresh plums!
Characteristics
| Bloom Color | White |
| Fruit Color | Red |
| Fruit Size | Large |
| Ripens/Harvest | July |
| Soil Composition | Loamy |
| Taste | Sweet |
| Texture | Firm |
| Soil pH Level | 6-7 |
| Soil Moisture | Well Drained |
| Shade Level | Full Sun |
| Years to Bear | 3-6 |
| Hardiness Zone Range | 5-9 |
Size & Spacing
Pollination
This variety is self pollinating.
In many cases, you may still want to plant pollinating partners to increase the size of your crops, but with self-pollinating varieties doing so is optional. You’ll get fruit with only one plant!
How do I find my Hardiness Zone?
Canada’s Plant Hardiness Zones will tell you which plants will do well in your particular climate. Each zone is determined by the lowest average winter temperature recorded in a given area. Hardiness Zone information is included on all tree and plant product pages, so you know instantly whether a certain plant is likely to succeed where you live. Natural Resources Canada provides helpful options to find your zone:
RICHARD WESTFALL –
Sorry to say that the didn’t survive the winter may try again next year.
Richard Mayberry –
Got this tree to pollinate my Shiro plum. The tree arrived in good shape last spring, is growing well this spring. I am hoping to have fruit next spring, maybe enough to share with the neighbors.
ROBERT SQUZERT –
no Flower no plum this year maybe next year I am going to Lowes to buy fruit trees this year
Gerben Houtman –
I saw 36 inches of growth the first year and have over a dozen flowers. Spring was wet last year so it may help to keep the trees well watered. I also used moderate fertilizer. Spring is coming early this year, hope we don’t get a late frost.