Phoenix Tropicals Gardening

[embetts]

I want to grow an Empress Prune Plum Tree in Mesa, AZ. The hardiness zone says it can grow in 5-8, and I'm 9-10 I think. But I see Empress Prune Plums at the farmers markets sometimes and I knew someone a while back that had one. Any tips or info on how to grow it, or where to get one?

[phoenixtropicals]

Seems like most plums do well here, to spite the fact that lots of literature does not recommend them for our zone. I think its worth a try.

I have a Santa Rosa plum and I water it the same as my peach tree which is every other day in summer and once a week in winter. Besides that it doesn't need any special care.

I see an Empress Plum for sale on line here:

http://www.grandpasorchard.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=trees.plantDetail&plant_id=116

[Bkaus]

When is it safe to order plants online because of the heat? I was wanting to order some stuff but afraid it would cook in the mail.

[embetts]

Ok, I saw the empress online at grandpa's Orchard, but wasn't sure about having it come from Michigan to the az heat. Does that change in climate seem to effect the trees much? Also I think it needs a cross pollinator, would green gage do? Grandpa's Orchard recommends president, but I kind of have my heart set on empress & green gage.

[phoenixtropicals]

Probably its best to wait until the end October to order. Also, most deciduous trees are shipped bare root so they won't ship until January anyways. I don't know about the pollination requirements. Here is another nursery with lots of plum types.

http://www.raintreenursery.com

[ajbcirc]

You need to determine how many chill hours are necessary for it to fruit. The only plums that do well here are those that require 400 hours or less -- a lot of the plums sold through Grandpa's Orchard requires 600+ hours. Otherwise, you'll end up with a big tree and no fruit!