Plum Elephant Heart

Elephant Heart Plum

Prunus 'Elephant Heart'

Height: 15 feet

Spread: 15 feet

Sunlight: full sun

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Other Names: Japanese Plum

Description:

This selection is a bearer of firm, heart shaped fruit, with sweet, juicy, blood red flesh; an upright spreading tree that is quite compact and ornamental; needs full sun and well-drained soil; requires pollination from another Japanese plum variety

Edible Qualities

Elephant Heart Plum is a small tree that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. It produces gold heart-shaped fruit (technically 'drupes') with a dark red blush and crimson flesh which are usually ready for picking in mid summer. The fruit will often fade to deep purple over time. Note that the fruits have hard inedible pits inside which must be removed before eating or processing. The fruits have a sweet taste and a juicy texture.

The fruit are most often used in the following ways:

Fresh Eating
Cooking
Baking
Preserves
Sauces
Features & Attributes

Elephant Heart Plum is smothered in stunning clusters of fragrant white flowers along the branches in early spring before the leaves. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The pointy leaves turn yellow in fall. The fruits are showy gold drupes with a dark red blush and which fade to deep purple over time, which are carried in abundance from early to mid summer.

This is a deciduous tree with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

Messy
Disease
Aside from its primary use as an edible, Elephant Heart Plum is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

Accent
Orchard/Edible Landscaping