Reine Claude Violette plum trees

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• Picking season: Late
• Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
• Flowering group: 3

A traditional French gage first recorded in the 18th century, noted for its excellent flavour. Also known as Purple Gage.

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Reine Claude Violette plum trees for sale

All about Reine Claude Violette plum trees

Reine Claude Violette is an old French variety, probably dating back to the 18th century. It has the characteristic sweet rich flavour which is so sought-after by plum enthusiasts.

English fruit enthusiast Robert Hogg, writing in the 1880s rates it as "A dessert plum of the greatest excellence, and particularly richly flavoured if allowed to hang on until it shrivels". It is sometimes known as Purple Gage in the UK - whereas most gages are green or yellow, this one has a dusky purple colour when fully ripe.

This is a late-season plum, ripening in the UK in late August - early September.

Growing and Training

Reine Claude Violette is fairly easy to grow. It does best in warm dry climates, but is a bit less prone to fruit-splitting in spells of wet weather than some other plums and gages.

Although not well-known in the UK, this variety is still widely grown in France

History

Reine Claude Violette is part of the Reine Claude group of plums, known in the UK as gages. These plums have a characteristic sweet almost melon-like flavour and are usually smaller than regular English plums.

You might also like these varieties

• 
  Cambridge Gage
  Cambridge Gage is a reliable green gage, similar to Old Green Gage, with an excellent flavour.
• 
  Herman
  Herman is one of the best quality early-season plum varieties, blue/purple with yellow flesh.
• 
  Marjorie's Seedling
  Marjorie's Seedling is an easy to grow, late-season, heavy cropping purple/black plum.
• 
  Opal
  Opal is an early plum variety with a good flavour, self-fertile and very easy to grow.

• British-grown trees

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Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. Find out more.

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. Find out more.

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.