Its even great down south here in Maryland -- an underappreciated plum.

Scott

If Ozark Premier plum is okay for your area, it is delicious. So is Shiro.

Connie, it sounds like you're dealing with Plum Curculio, and no, plums don't do a good job of ripening on the kitchen counter. (Neither do tomatoes, really, but tomatoes don't grow nearly as many fruit flies in the process, unless they go rotten!)
I'd suggest looking back over the threads for previous comments on spray protocols for curculio. Also, there may well be material on the web from your local ag/extension service on what spray protocol works in your area.
Over to you, Don... I can recognize some of the stuff, but I'm not an expert at dealing with the various fruit pests and diseases.

We just finished eating our last Superior plum for it's first season. I have never been a plum fan but this variety may change me. We left them on until they were soft. The skin was still very sour but the flesh was so sweet and juicy, you just need to keep the two ( sweet and sour)combined in you mouth as you eat them.
Yummy

It does great in California as well. It is an early to mid August ripener here. It has very fine quality and I agree that it is an over looked widely adaptable variety.

I have had a superior plum tree for about 10 years, and am not getting any fruit. For the last three years, I get small plums of about 1 inch in diameter, then they fall off. What am I doing wrong?

This is my Superior Plum....I think? [on the picnic table] The tree was labeled as Pembina, but a local fruit grower said it is Superior!....both plums are very similar.
What's your opinion.
Konrad
{{gwi:123106}}

connie 1046:

Gardenpaws is right that plum curculio is an early pest of plums, leaving a flat, shiny area that eventually becomes distorted and causes the plum to fall off. But the thing that looks like a grain of sand is probably a drop of dried pectin, and that is more typical of the entry wound of the oriental fruit moth. Not that it makes much difference, since the result of both these insects is about the same; a ruined plum that drops prematurely. Most places have these insects, and a few lucky places don't.

To raise plums to the ripe stage on your tree, you are probably going to have to spray with an effective insecticide, something like permethrin or malathion, about every week or ten days until the plums become large enough and the skin tough enough that they are less attractive to the insects. During the last couple weeks of ripening, you can usually stop spraying, allowing the insecticide to wash and weather off, but you should wash the fruit anyway before eating.

I don't know whether Konrad has to spray or not to produce those beautiful plums, but most of us do. In my area, insects also eat the leaves of plum trees, and the spray helps to stop that too. Plum leaves are a favorite of the Japanese beetle and several other types of beetle.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Konrad - Your picture does not look like the Superior plums that I grow. Mine are a much darker red color, not quite so orange. Could your plum possibly be Alderman? The pictures that I have seen of this plum look more like yours. have a tree growing, but it is still too young to bear fruit. - Steve

How are plums this year? Must be about picking time? Pictures anyone? Because of this post, i've had in the ground since last spring an Alderman and a Superior.

How do these plums compare to a Green Gage plum?

I'm hoping for fruit next year.

Konrad, I'm holding one of my "superior" plums in front of me. Mine is more burgundy colored, has a more pronounced point, (or tip) on the bottom, and is 80% specked with tiny gold dots.

From the point of planting, how long did it take to get fruit? 1st year(doubtful), 2nd year(maybe?), 3rd year?

Danman1 - That would agree with the description of the Superior plums that I grow as well. The plums pictured look more like Alderman to me. This is also an excellent winter hardy hybrid plum variety, well worth growing.

The varieties that I am currently growing here in western Wisconsin are: Superior, Alderman, Vermont, Pembina, La Crescent, Toka, Tecumseh, Underwood, Waneta, Gracious, Stanley and Green Gage.

The Green Gage is just loaded with plums this year, but they are not quite ripe yet. These plums are excellent, but have the downside of being curculio magnets. With the hybrid plums, especially Superior, I have more problems with yellow jackets attacking the ripe fruit. - Steve

Correction...
the plum picture I posted wasn't Superior, it's a Supreme...according to other growers, this tree was labelled
Pembina.

Konrad

Isn't it funny again!
Konrad's picture of Superior plum in a post above got used by Pahls market (Minnesota) on their website as Superior plum before Konrad made the correction that the picture was actually that of Supreme plum and not Superior plum. I guess they could not wait for the correction:
(Pick and paste the link)
http://www.pahls.com/plant-library/superior-plum/

Thank you ottawan for this, ...they have been contacted.

Another nursery, Tooley's in New Mexico is using it also,..saying the picture may be subject to copyright....yea right!

Here is a link that might be useful: Plum Picture

Pahls market has removed it.

Tooley's Trees is still defiant

I found two more pictures Tooley's used in their website, another plum and cherry, [removed now]. I don't mind when my pictures are used for personal reason's but when used for their business it's a different story.

One more.

Here is a link that might be useful: Konrads picture

Last year i'm not sure i got one Superior plum off my tree because of PC... This year its war.

Frank,
These plums are worth going to war. I rate them above all other plums. You still may not get any if your grandchildren get a taste of them!

It seems like fewer nurseries are selling this variety compared to a few yrs back. Basically down to Stark's, Gurney's, and Fedco.

Are there others?

Funny that when I do a search in google images for "superior plum", Konrad's image of supreme plum (above) is in the #1 spot!

I'm in zone 4. My Superior is just ripening, about a month later than it is supposed to. It is a Stark Bros dwarf tree and has not been particularly cold hardy. The first year 2/3 of the tree died during the winter. I pruned the dead part and it regrew. I'm an organic gardener, use Spinosad for insect control. My tree's plums fall off in strong winds but some do ripen inside just sitting on the kitchen counter. I also have a Greengage, a Golden Transparent from Raintree Nursery. The plums are very sweet, a honey taste with a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. Finches go crazy over them even before they are ripe. I prefer the taste of the Greengage but they really are two different tastes that I can't compare. My other plums are a Santa Rosa, a Stanley and an Italian prune plum.

I have had a Superior plum for at least six years now. It has only produced a handful of plums total. Actually, I have a half dozen varieties and none have produced many plums. The ones I did get were quite tasty, so I keep hoping next year will be a bumper crop. Northwoodswis

I have a four in one plum tree, on it are shiro, santa rosa, blue damson, and superior. Superior is by far the best flavor. The superior branch is less robust, so I have been loping off shiro and damson branches to keep them at bay so they don't take over the tree. Early bloom this year in Socal so they should be ripe in June maybe?

backyardman:

Have you tried growing pluots? I find them vastly superior to Superior. Flavor Supreme, Geo Pride, Flavor King, Flavor Finale to name a few readily available.

What is your guys most hardy pluots or plumcot. I am finding that a lot of your American vareity are far better than our canadian variety. I've bought all sorts of the hardy plums and out of them the American releases are much more prolific and bear fruit way earlier. I've been trying to make a hardy pluot or plumcot here but non of the hardy plums will readily accept the pollen from my apricots. One could take a superior or pembina and breed with an apricot like goldcot or westcot and the tree would be super hardy and prolific . Just don't understand why it doesn't work for me. I do hand pollination for 3 years now and all the flowers just fall off. Not even growing to a peasize. I just would love some input on hardy plumcot variety from you guys down south because I buy them in my stores lots and they blow any fruit away hands down and can be ripened at home on counter not to bad. They have qualities apricots and lots of plums won't ever. Except it seems nobody tries it in cold places. I am in a zone similar to Wisconsin or Minnisota maybe not as cold lots of winters are mild here but we do get lots of cold snaps that last few days from arctic systems that move through. My elevation is similar to Denver we are way above sea level not as high but I do believe we are the highest elevation in Canada for any major city . Late frost are terrible here because of the elevation and location right on the side of the Rockies.

Thinking of grafting some Superior plums onto 1/4 to 1/2 of my current Shiro tree. Problem is I haven't tasted a fully riped Shiro yet due to bug pressure and squirrels. I have tasted Satsuma though despite these pressures and I don't think I want to graft anything else onto that tree as the flavor is pretty good. I will be putting cotton baggies on everything I can get my hands on this year and tying to the branches so hopefully I can save from squirrels and bugs.