Convoy Cherry-Plum

Description:

A cross between a cherry and a plum, produces medium-sized scarlet red fruit, great for canning and jam or fresh eating, pretty white flowers in spring; hardy shrub with a decidedly upright habit, great as a fruiting hedge, excellent for the home orchard

Ornamental Features:

Convoy Cherry-Plum is blanketed in stunning clusters of fragrant white flowers along the branches in mid spring before the leaves. It has dark green foliage throughout the season. The pointy leaves turn yellow in fall. The fruits are showy scarlet drupes carried in abundance in early fall, which are excellent for making jams and jellies and fresh eating but which can be messy if allowed to drop on the lawn or walkways. This variety requires a different selection of the same species growing nearby in order to set fruit. The smooth dark red bark is not particularly outstanding.

Landscape Attributes:

Convoy Cherry-Plum is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub 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 is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Convoy Cherry-Plum is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Orchard/Edible Landscaping
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening

Plant Characteristics:

Convoy Cherry-Plum will grow to be about 12 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It tends to be a little leggy, with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments.

This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.