Willingham plum trees
Prunus domestica - Picking season: Late
- Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
- Flowering group: 3
Willingham is a traditional English Green Gage, and considered by enthusiasts as the finest of all plums that can be grown in the UK.
It has the classic sweet melon-like flavour which marks out the green gages as distinct from regular plums (although nowadays plums and gages are categorised as the same species - Prunus domestica).
It is almost certainly a seedling of Old Green Gage, and therefore a sibling of Cambridge Gage - in fact they are hard to tell apart, but all possess first-rate flavours.
Willingham plum trees for sale
Pot-grown
All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.
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 St. Julien rootstock£61.50
Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
Bare-root
BR11-year bare-root treeVVA-1 rootstock£41.50
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
BR22-year bush-trained bare-root treeVVA-1 rootstock£49.75
Medium tree
(2m-3m after 10 years)
BR31-year bare-root treeWavit rootstock£38.75
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR41-year bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£38.75
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR52-year bush-trained bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£47.50
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR62-year half-standard bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£51.00
Large tree
(3m-5m after 10 years)
BR71-year bare-root treeBrompton rootstock£41.25
Very large tree
(4m-7m after 10 years)
Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts
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.
Growing and Training
Willingham is partially self-fertile, like Cambridge Gage and Old Green Gage, and in a good spring can set a full crop. However as with all gages a pollination partner (of a different variety) is useful to improve cropping.
Recommended pollinators for Willingham plum trees
Willingham is not self-fertile, so you will need another different but compatible variety planted nearby in order to produce fruit.
The following varieties are good pollinators for Willingham.
If you are not sure about pollination requirements don't hesitate to ask us.
More pollinators >
VictoriaVictoria is the definitive English plum, attractive fruit, good for eating, outstanding flavour for cooking.
OpalOpal is an early plum variety with a good flavour, self-fertile and very easy to grow.
Marjorie's SeedlingMarjorie's Seedling is an easy to grow, late-season, heavy cropping purple/black plum.
Cambridge GageCambridge Gage is a reliable green gage, similar to Old Green Gage, with an excellent flavour.
CzarCzar is a traditional culinary plum, one of the easiest plums trees, will even fruit on north-facing walls.
History
Discovered in Willingham, a village in Cambridgeshire, in the 19th century. It is almost certainly a seedling of Old Green Gage. Interestingly it has only come to prominence relatively recently, and was seemingly little known in the region where it arose.
Willingham characteristics
- Gardening skillBeginner
- Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
- Flowering group3
- Pollinating othersAverage
- Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesMild damp climatesWarm climates
- Picking seasonLate
- CroppingGood
- Keeping (of fruit)1-3 days
- Food usesEating fresh
- Country of originUnited Kingdom
- Period of origin1800 - 1849
- Blossom colourWhite
- Fruit colourGreen - light
British-grown trees 
Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK.
Find out more.
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.
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.
