On Sat, 22 Aug 2009, David WE Roberts wrote:


"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...

Also, what success am I likely to have taking cuttings? I read rather
conflicting reports. I dug up a 3' high plum runner, losing most of the
roots in the process, potted it up and gave it away. It seems to be OK,
though only having leaves on the bottom foot. I think we might be out of
runners though.

The recipient of the plum runner may not get much joy.

Our plums put out loads of runners and I let a few grow for a while
just to see whay happened.
No sign of blossom.

I did this a few years ago and now have quite a large tree. It produces
a very large number of small green but sweet plums each year, a little
like greengages. Not much character but well worth collecting. Obviously
it reflects the stock onto which the original plum tree in our
neighbour's garden was grafted.

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags
me for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France