Deluge Plum (Spring 2027)

Yes. Deluge Plum needs pollen from a different variety that blooms at about the same time. Plant another European plum such as Stanley or Mount Royal nearby. Its plum group is an educated guess, so noting its bloom date next to Stanley and Toka would confirm the right partners. Partners we carry include Stanley Plum, Mount Royal Plum, Italian Plum.

We rate Deluge Plum hardy to zone 3b, which means winters down to about -35°F. Local trees have taken -30°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

About 800 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 700 and 1,100. Nobody has published a chill figure for it, so that's our estimate from its relatives and origin. A Missoula landrace European plum. Chill is estimated at about 800 hours, typical for European plums. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

About Aug 1 to Aug 14 in Missoula, Montana, picked and dated off local trees. Pick them firm and let them sit a week at room temperature before refrigerating. Warmer places run earlier and cooler places later; our ripening map converts the date to your town.

We graft Deluge Plum onto Prairie Red Plum (semi-dwarf), which makes a tree roughly 10 to 15 ft tall if you never prune it.

Our top use scores for Deluge Plum are fresh eating (8/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

We don't know yet. Nobody has published solid disease data on Deluge Plum for bacterial canker, bacterial spot, black knot, brown rot, cytospora canker and plum pocket, so we list it as unknown instead of guessing. That doesn't mean it's weak. Plenty of the plants we grow have never been through formal disease trials. Our plum disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Yes, deer love it. Protect Deluge Plum with a fence or a cage, especially while it is young.

A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 4-6 ft or 6-8 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.