Kirke's Blue plum trees
£38.75Kirke's Blue plum trees for sale
Choose a size - bare-root
BR11-year bare-root tree,St. Julien rootstock£38.75
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Out of stock
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Tree specification
Photos of trees as supplied |
Tree sizes and forms
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
All about Kirke's Blue plum trees
History
Kirke's Blue was named by Joseph Kirke, a nurseryman from the Brompton district of London who first propagated it in the 1830s and subsequently promoted it. However its origins are unknown - Kirke stated he first saw the fruit for sale on a market stall and tracked down the original tree to Norfolk, but this is not certain. It soon became a popular variety in Victorian gardens.
Kirke's Blue characteristics
- What level of gardening skill is needed to grow Kirke's Blue?Average
- Is Kirke's Blue self-fertile?Not self-fertile
- What flowering group is Kirke's Blue?3
- Is Kirke's Blue good for pollinating others?Average
- What climates is Kirke's Blue suitable for?Temperate climatesWarm climates
- What season do you pick Kirke's Blue?Mid
- CroppingLight
- How long can you keep Kirke's Blue in a fridge?Does not keep
- Food usesEating freshDrying
- What is the overall disease resistance of Kirke's Blue?Good
- Where does Kirke's Blue originate from?United Kingdom
- When was Kirke's Blue first introduced?1800 - 1849
- What colour is the blossom of Kirke's Blue?White
- Fruit colourPurple - light
You might also like these varieties
HermanHerman is one of the best quality early-season plum varieties, blue/purple with yellow flesh.
Marjorie's SeedlingMarjorie's Seedling is an easy to grow, late-season, heavy cropping purple/black plum.
OpalOpal is an early plum variety with a good flavour, self-fertile and very easy to grow.
VictoriaVictoria is the most popular English plum, attractive fruit, good for eating, outstanding flavour for cooking.
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
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All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS.
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Guaranteed fruit trees
When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions.
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More about plum trees
Eating plums, also known as dessert plums, offer some of the sweetest flavours possible in the temperate garden, rivaling the best of tropical fruits. We particularly rate Avalon, Oullins Gage, Cambridge Gage, Coe's Golden Drop, Old Green Gage, and Opal.
There are several things you can do, as the gardener, to enhance the flavours of these sweet fruits. Firstly, try to plant the tree in full sun - because it is sunlight that ripens the fruits and ensures the maximum sweetness. Secondly, thin the fruitlets in June. To be fair, thinning plum fruitlets is a tedious job, but it is well worth doing because most plum varieties set too many fruits, which leads to poorer fruit size and bland flavours. So if you think your tree has over-set, carefully prune off the developing fruitlets, and don't be surprised if you end up removing half of them or even more - the tree will reward you later on.
Please note that plum trees are generally not suitable for growing in containers.
