Countess cherry plum trees
Prunus x cerasifera - Picking season: Early
- Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
A dark-red cherry plum, with sweet golden flesh, suitable for eating fresh and cooking.
Countess cherry plum trees for sale
Pot-grown
All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.
PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree VVA-1 rootstock £60.50
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree St. Julien rootstock £59.00< 5 in stock
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Bare-root
BR11-year bare-root tree St. Julien rootstock £41.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Next deliveries
Order now for delivery from week commencing 29th April where these items are showing as in stock.
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95. It is calculated when you add trees to your basket, based on your postcode.
Countess is a new dual-purpose cherry-plum. The fruits are large by cherry-plum standards, in fact similar to a good-sized plum. They have a rich and very sweet flavour - and a better eating quality than most mirabelles and cherry plums.
Like other cherry plums and mirabelles, Countess is also good for cooking and preserving.
This is a semi-freestone fruit - the flesh sticks to the stone but is easily removed.
The fruits ripen in early July in southern England - they ripen quite quickly, turning from orange to deep crimson within a few days. Pick them as soon as this starts to happen if you want to cook with them, or leave them for a few more days if you want to eat them fresh. It is difficult to judge the ripeness by touch alone as they remain quite firm even when fully ripe.
How to grow
Countess usually flowers profusely, and is partially self-fertile. Its flowering season is very early, typically late February or early March in the south of England. The blossom appears on bare-branches, just before the leaves come out, and is an impressive sight.
Countess produces lots of blossom and flowers over an extended period, so is a good pollinator for early-flowering cherry-plums, and related plum species such as pluots and Japanese plums.
Advice on fruit tree pollination.
History
Countess was developed in Ukraine. Some authorities classify this variety with the mirabelles (Prunus insititia) but it is actually a hybrid variety and its flowering and ripening periods make it closer to the cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera).
Countess characteristics
- Gardening skillAverage
- Self-fertilityPartially self-fertile
- Flowering group1
- Pollinating othersGood
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesWarm climates
- Picking seasonEarly
- CroppingGood
- Keeping (of fruit)1-3 days
- Food usesEating freshCulinaryDual purpose
- Country of originUkraine
- Period of origin1950 - 1999
- Fruit colourRed - dark
- Flesh colourGolden / Yellow
