This small Florida native is a shrubby tree with beautifully crooked growth habits. It is covered in white blooms in the spring. Its fruits are a bit larger than a cooked garbanzo bean, and sour, sometimes bitter. Our plants are seedlings of one of the best tasting trees around, and not at all bitter.

Flatwoods Plum Tree

Soil: Well drained, tolerates acidic to slightly basic conditions. Add a bit of lime, just to make sure there’s enough. Light fertilizing might help, but is probably not essential.
Water: Will benefit from irrigation during droughts, or if soil is excessively drained.
Sun: full sun, part sun, part shade.
Cold: Very cold hardy.

Flatwoods Plum Flowers

Pruning: Mostly unnecessary, but removing low branches/suckers can improve appearance.
Propagation: By seed, cold stratification required.
Pests: Some fruits are parasitized.
Harvesting, storage, and preparation: Harvest the fruits quickly because they fall off as soon as they are ripe, and quickly rot. They make excellent jams, jellies, pies, and preserves.

Flatwoods Plums

pdf: Flatwoods Plum Information Sheet
(to print out)