"David J Bockman" wrote in message
...
I would respectfully disagree with your assessment. It's a gorgeous tree!
*And* those 'ornamental' fruits are delicious.

Dave



They're pretty much "thug" trees here and a couple of months of not removing
those suckers will leave a homeowner with a plum thicket. I've seen one of
those thickets 30' wide and that had to be removed with a bobcat. They also
have weak wood and are prone to having limbs snap off in ice storms or high
winds. I personally think their bad qualities outweigh their good ones, but
that's a matter of taste and gardening philosophy as to the
maintainence/benefit ratio. (I don't like trimmed boxwoods either.) For a
purple/red foliaged tree without those problems, I prefer continus for sun
and red leaved Japanese maple cultivars for shade. And for "edible"
ornamentals, I still like my crabapples, from which I make a beautiful jewel
colored jelly. But, different tastes are why none of our gardens look
anything like the others. (Unless that Florida dope Gary Allen designed
them.)

Sunflower
MS 7b