Hi,
I'm not that good at gardening and especially at identifying species of
anything. We moved into our house nearly 20 years ago and have a fairly
large garden with a wildish bit over the fence at the bottom. There is a row
of trees there that have simply seemed a nuisance and we constantly cut
back. Mini trees crop up all over the garden that have similar leaves so we
have blamed the rogues at the bottom.
Last year, for the first time, it had a crop of what seemed to be damsons. I
looked up pictures and all seemed to point to me being right. I made several
pots of jam which I've yet to try.
This year, no crop again and I'm starting to worry about whether they really
are damson trees. If they are, it's unusual behaviour to fruit every 20
years?!?!? Not much money in that for growers. If not, what could they be
and is the jam safe to eat? I was looking forward to it.

My damson tree was covered in fruit last year but we've not had any
flowers/fruit at all this year either.
Mel.

"Joan Edington" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm not that good at gardening and especially at identifying species of
anything. We moved into our house nearly 20 years ago and have a fairly
large garden with a wildish bit over the fence at the bottom. There is a
row of trees there that have simply seemed a nuisance and we constantly
cut back. Mini trees crop up all over the garden that have similar leaves
so we have blamed the rogues at the bottom.
Last year, for the first time, it had a crop of what seemed to be damsons.
I looked up pictures and all seemed to point to me being right. I made
several pots of jam which I've yet to try.
This year, no crop again and I'm starting to worry about whether they
really are damson trees. If they are, it's unusual behaviour to fruit
every 20 years?!?!? Not much money in that for growers. If not, what
could they be and is the jam safe to eat? I was looking forward to it.

"Joan Edington" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm not that good at gardening and especially at identifying species of
anything. We moved into our house nearly 20 years ago and have a fairly
large garden with a wildish bit over the fence at the bottom. There is a
row of trees there that have simply seemed a nuisance and we constantly
cut back. Mini trees crop up all over the garden that have similar leaves
so we have blamed the rogues at the bottom.
Last year, for the first time, it had a crop of what seemed to be damsons.
I looked up pictures and all seemed to point to me being right. I made
several pots of jam which I've yet to try.
This year, no crop again and I'm starting to worry about whether they
really are damson trees. If they are, it's unusual behaviour to fruit
every 20 years?!?!? Not much money in that for growers. If not, what
could they be and is the jam safe to eat? I was looking forward to it.

Eat the jam. You've waited long enough for it :-)

Mary

The message
from "Joan Edington" contains these words:

I'm not that good at gardening and especially at identifying species of
anything. We moved into our house nearly 20 years ago and have a fairly
large garden with a wildish bit over the fence at the bottom. There is
a row
of trees there that have simply seemed a nuisance and we constantly cut
back. Mini trees crop up all over the garden that have similar leaves so we
have blamed the rogues at the bottom.
Last year, for the first time, it had a crop of what seemed to be
damsons. I
looked up pictures and all seemed to point to me being right. I made
several
pots of jam which I've yet to try.
This year, no crop again and I'm starting to worry about whether they
really
are damson trees. If they are, it's unusual behaviour to fruit every 20
years?!?!? Not much money in that for growers. If not, what could they be
and is the jam safe to eat? I was looking forward to it.

Probably bullaces, which flower earlier, and thus get frosted, as well
as having less chance of insect pollination.

Otherwise, there's not a lot of difference between bullaces and damsons
- er - except that bullaces are much more prone to suckering...

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:
"Joan Edington" wrote in message
...

Hi,
I'm not that good at gardening and especially at identifying species of
anything. We moved into our house nearly 20 years ago and have a fairly
large garden with a wildish bit over the fence at the bottom. There is a
row of trees there that have simply seemed a nuisance and we constantly
cut back. Mini trees crop up all over the garden that have similar leaves
so we have blamed the rogues at the bottom.
Last year, for the first time, it had a crop of what seemed to be
damsons.
I looked up pictures and all seemed to point to me being right. I made
several pots of jam which I've yet to try.
This year, no crop again and I'm starting to worry about whether they
really are damson trees. If they are, it's unusual behaviour to fruit
every 20 years?!?!? Not much money in that for growers. If not, what
could they be and is the jam safe to eat? I was looking forward to it.

Eat the jam. You've waited long enough for it :-)

Lay it down - might become a valuable vintage!

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

"Joan Edington" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I'm not that good at gardening and especially at identifying species of
anything. We moved into our house nearly 20 years ago and have a fairly
large garden with a wildish bit over the fence at the bottom. There is a
row of trees there that have simply seemed a nuisance and we constantly
cut back. Mini trees crop up all over the garden that have similar leaves
so we have blamed the rogues at the bottom.
Last year, for the first time, it had a crop of what seemed to be damsons.
I looked up pictures and all seemed to point to me being right. I made
several pots of jam which I've yet to try.
This year, no crop again and I'm starting to worry about whether they
really are damson trees. If they are, it's unusual behaviour to fruit
every 20 years?!?!? Not much money in that for growers. If not, what
could they be and is the jam safe to eat? I was looking forward to it.


I have several damson trees which fruit every year. This year I had hardly
any as we had a late frost that took most of the blossom out.
Last year was a very good year.. they were groaning with fruit.
They don't seem to like being pruned very much so constantly cutting them
back might not help. Try leaving them alone for a while and see what
happens.
Eat your jam. There's nothing I can think of that looks like a damson that
doesn't make good jam ;-)

The message
from "Christina Websell" contains
these words:

There's nothing I can think of that looks like a damson that
doesn't make good jam ;-)

Even sloes make lovely jam - but care is needed: unless you sieve-out
the stones it's like eating rocky caviar, and it can be spoonbendingly
solid.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
|
| Probably bullaces, which flower earlier, and thus get frosted, as well
| as having less chance of insect pollination.
|
| Otherwise, there's not a lot of difference between bullaces and damsons
| - er - except that bullaces are much more prone to suckering...

Botanically, there is effectively damn-all difference, except that (in
the UK) we tend to use the word bullace for the wild form and damson
for the cultivated one. And are they native or introduced? Therein
hangs a question ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Lots of people have said their damsons failed this year, but I had my best crop ever. It isn't that I didn't have the late frosts: my normal-type plum and my pears all failed with the sharp radiational frosts in April (the air temp wasn't that low). But it seems the damsons were alread well set before then, and survived the frost.

Of course many things grown as damsons aren't, they are "damson plums", ie plums that are damson-like. My mother's Merryweather (the most common variety), for instance is probably a "damson plum", and she got none this year like most other people. But mine are Farleigh, a true damson raised from a wild seedling: the fruits are sloe-sized, smaller than cherries, and my total yield off a small, slow-growing tree, totally smothered in fruit was only about 2kg. A lot better than the 400g I got last year, or 800g the year before. But it only took 1kg to make as much jam as I need, and I'll have some crumbles during the year.

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from "Christina Websell" contains
these words:

There's nothing I can think of that looks like a damson that
doesn't make good jam ;-)

Even sloes make lovely jam - but care is needed: unless you sieve-out
the stones it's like eating rocky caviar, and it can be spoonbendingly
solid.

I prefer to put sloes into gin ;-) and damsons too. Damson gin is good.
As is plum brandy and raspberry vodka.
I had a friend fall over outside after a few raspberry vodkas g

In article ,
echinosum writes:
|
| Of course many things grown as damsons aren't, they are "damson plums",
| ie plums that are damson-like.

Grrk. There really isn't any boundary between damsons and plums.

| But mine are Farleigh, a true damson
| raised from a wild seedling: the fruits are sloe-sized, smaller than
| cherries, ...

Well, I have Merryweather and Farleigh, too, and they are both about
the same size - both bantam's egg sized - so there is clearly a great
deal of variation in what is called Farleigh.

Yours sounds like a throwback; the smallest Prunus domestica that I
know of is mirabelle, and they are still larger than sloes and about
as big as cherries. Most damsons are bantam's egg sized.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
echinosum writes:
|
| Of course many things grown as damsons aren't, they are "damson plums",
| ie plums that are damson-like.

Grrk. There really isn't any boundary between damsons and plums.

| But mine are Farleigh, a true damson
| raised from a wild seedling: the fruits are sloe-sized, smaller than
| cherries, ...

Well, I have Merryweather and Farleigh, too, and they are both about
the same size - both bantam's egg sized - so there is clearly a great
deal of variation in what is called Farleigh.

Yours sounds like a throwback; the smallest Prunus domestica that I
know of is mirabelle, and they are still larger than sloes and about
as big as cherries. Most damsons are bantam's egg sized.

What breed of bantam?

:-)

Mary


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| Yours sounds like a throwback; the smallest Prunus domestica that I
| know of is mirabelle, and they are still larger than sloes and about
| as big as cherries. Most damsons are bantam's egg sized.
|
| What breed of bantam?
|
| :-)

All right, pullet's egg sized, if you prefer :-)

I was referring to the traditional measure of size, which was fairly
standard (if completely nonsensical), not yer actual bantams ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| Yours sounds like a throwback; the smallest Prunus domestica that I
| know of is mirabelle, and they are still larger than sloes and about
| as big as cherries. Most damsons are bantam's egg sized.
|
| What breed of bantam?
|
| :-)

All right, pullet's egg sized, if you prefer :-)

I was referring to the traditional measure of size, which was fairly
standard (if completely nonsensical), not yer actual bantams ....

Bantam eggs are smaller than standard hens' eggs but different bantam breeds
have different sized eggs. Even my two Wyandotte bantams lay different sized
eggs, the Croad Langshan bantam lays bigger eggs.

Bantams are as different in size and size of eggs as are standard breeds.

Mary




Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
|
| Probably bullaces, which flower earlier, and thus get frosted, as well
| as having less chance of insect pollination.
|
| Otherwise, there's not a lot of difference between bullaces and damsons
| - er - except that bullaces are much more prone to suckering...

Botanically, there is effectively damn-all difference, except that (in
the UK) we tend to use the word bullace for the wild form and damson
for the cultivated one. And are they native or introduced? Therein
hangs a question ....

Well, the fruit may be botanically similar, but tame damsons are often
grafted onto a rootstock with reduced suckering.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig