Mount Royal Plum Tree | Bare Root, Zone 2b

Mount Royal Plum (Spring 2027)

$49.99

Rootstock/Size Native Plum Semi-Dwarf: 3-5 ft. Prairie Red Plum Semi-Dwarf: 3-5 ft. Native Plum Semi-Dwarf: 3-5 ft.(One Year Older) Pruned to 5 ft. for Shipping Prairie Red Plum Semi-Dwarf: 5-7 ft. (Pruned to 5 ft. for Shipping) Native Plum Semi-Dwarf: 5-7 ft.(Pruned to 5 ft. for Shipping) Native Plum Semi-Dwarf: 5-7 ft.(One Year Older) Pruned to 5 ft. for Shipping

Reliable shipping

Flexible returns

Pollination Self-fertile

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

See trees that bloom with it Plum Pollination Map

Ripening

Will it finish before your first hard freeze?

Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)

Disease resistanceResists 1 of 6

Bacterial canker : Unknown, no published data yet
Bacterial spot : Unknown, no published data yet
Black knot : Moderate, 3 of 5
Brown rot : Unknown, no published data yet
Cytospora canker : Unknown, no published data yet
Plum pocket : Resistant, 4 of 5

Scored 1 to 5. Higher resists better, and ? means no published data yet.

See it on our plum disease chart (opens in a new tab)

At a glance: Mount Royal Plum is a plum tree rated hardy to zone 2b in our ratings (winters to -45°F), self-fertile, so one tree can crop (bloom group 4 of 7, mid for a European plum), and it ripens about Aug 31 to Sep 12 in Missoula (our Missoula estimate).

Hardy to	Zone 2b to 7. The b means the warmer half of zone 2 only (winters to -45°F). Our notes have it taking -44°F. Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator.
Chill hours	About 800 hours (700 to 1,000). Our estimate. No published figure exists for this variety yet. Montana winters give it plenty. In milder climates, make sure your winters average at least this much. Check your chill hours or see our sources.
Pollination	Self-Fertile. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), mid spring here. Mount Royal is self-fertile and fruits as a single tree. It is also a good pollenizer for other European plums. Nearby varieties that can boost the crop: Stanley Plum, Italian Plum, Early Italian Plum, Longjohn Plum and 6 more. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Plum Pollination Map.
Ripens	About Aug 31 to Sep 12 in Missoula (a Missoula estimate from published sources). Real years swing about a week either way. See the date for your town.
Rootstock and size	Native Plum: semi-dwarf, about 10 to 15 ft tall unpruned. Suckers, so mow or pull suckers. Prairie Red Plum: semi-dwarf, about 10 to 15 ft tall unpruned. A seed-grown American plum hybrid from the USDA plant materials center in Bismarck; it suckers. Our rootstock guide.
Good for	Fresh eating (8/10), jams and jellies (7/10), canning and freezing (7/10), drying (7/10), cooking and roasting (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists.
Deer	A deer favorite. Fence it or cage it.
Compare it	Italian vs Mount Royal, side by side on hardiness, pollination, ripening and fruit.
What you get	Bare root, 3-5 ft or 5-7 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out.

Overview

Mount Royal plum has been a reliable European plum variety for northern growers. It is an upright to spreading tree with an open center and moderate vigor.

Flavor and Uses

The light blue plums are juicy, semi-freestone, and have sweet flesh. They are excellent for fresh eating, okay for drying, and ripen in late August to early September.

Cold Hardiness

Mount Royal has survived temperatures as low as -44°F in West Central MN and -42°F in Columbus, MT, proving its hardiness in extreme conditions. UPDATE FALL 2025: We just discovered that Mount Royal has survived and borne a consistent crop in Lodgepole, Montana at MSU's Lodgepole Fruit Research Site, where it has gotten down to sub -45F temps.

Rootstock and Cold Tolerance

Our Mount Royal plums are grafted onto Native Plum and Prairie Red Plum, both of which are hardy to at least -50F. Native Plum is semi-dwarf in our MT climate/soils, although we have found that there is some natural variation in size, as these plants are grown from seed. Prairie Red, meanwhile, exhibits less variation in size according to what Dan Sheild has observed at his site in MN.

Photos: “Fruits du prunier Mont-Royal (Prunus domestica 'Mont-Royal')” by Maxime Laterreur, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; “Fleurs du prunier Mont-Royal (Prunus domestica 'Mont-Royal')” by Maxime Laterreur, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 4.0.

Questions we get about Mount Royal Plum

Does Mount Royal Plum need a pollenizer?

No. Mount Royal Plum is self-fertile, so a single tree can set fruit. Mount Royal is self-fertile and fruits as a single tree. It is also a good pollenizer for other European plums. Partners we carry include Stanley Plum, Italian Plum, Early Italian Plum.

How cold hardy is Mount Royal Plum?

We rate Mount Royal Plum hardy to zone 2b, which means winters down to about -45°F. Our notes have it taking -44°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.

How many chill hours does Mount Royal Plum need?

About 800 hours of winter chill (we count hours at or below 45°F), likely somewhere between 700 and 1,000. Nobody has published a chill figure for it, so that's our estimate from its relatives and origin. Our chill hours guide has a calculator for your winters, and our research page lists the sources.

When does Mount Royal Plum ripen?

About Aug 31 to Sep 12 in Missoula, Montana (an estimate built from published sources and our climate). Warmer places run earlier and cooler places later; our ripening map converts the date to your town.

How big does Mount Royal Plum get?

We graft Mount Royal Plum onto Native Plum (semi-dwarf), which makes a tree roughly 10 to 15 ft tall if you never prune it. Some sizes are on Prairie Red Plum.

What is Mount Royal Plum good for?

Our top use scores for Mount Royal Plum are fresh eating (8/10), jams and jellies (7/10), canning and freezing (7/10), drying (7/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.

Is Mount Royal Plum disease resistant?

For some diseases, yes. It's resistant to plum pocket. It holds up moderately well against black knot. Nobody has published solid data on it for bacterial canker, bacterial spot, brown rot and cytospora canker yet, so we list those as unknown. Our plum disease resistance chart has every rating, the notes and the sources.

Will deer eat Mount Royal Plum?

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

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Pollination partners

Good partners for Mount Royal Plum

Mount Royal Plum is self-fertile, so one tree will fruit on its own. If you'd like a second European plum, these bloom at the same time and work well together.

Bloom group 4 of 7 (Mid)

Pollination Self-fertile

Pollen Good pollenizer

10 trees we carry bloom with it. 3 in stock now.