Kirke's Blue plum trees
Prunus domestica Kirke's Blue plum trees for sale
Bare-root
BR11-year bare-root tree,St. Julien rootstock£38.75
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
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Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.
Tree specification
Photos of trees as supplied |
Tree sizes and forms
Pre-ordering
Pre-order now for delivery in September 2025
Delivery charges
Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.
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
- Gardening skillAverage
- Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
- Flowering group3
- Pollinating othersAverage
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesWarm climates
- Picking seasonMid
- CroppingLight
- Keeping (of fruit)Does not keep
- Food usesEating freshDrying
- Country of originUnited Kingdom
- Period of origin1800 - 1849
- Blossom colourWhite
- Fruit colourPurple - light
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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In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance.
Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards
for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK.
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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.
