Prunus salicina 'BLACK AMBER'

Black Amber is a Japanese plum variety bred by J.H.Weinerberger from Fresno, California (USA), in 1980. It is a midseason, heavy bearing plum producing medium to large, round or slightly flattened fruit of dark purple blue colour. The skin is thick and keeps the fruit from handling bruises, and secures longer shelf life. The taste is very good, complex, balanced sweet and acid with dominant sweetness. The flesh is juicy, amber yellow and red closer to the stone, not adhered. Harvest in CE conditions begins in late July or early August.

The best way to eat early plums or gages is fresh off the tree, obviously, but they can be processed into jams and canned, even dried and frozen. A plum preserve is divine and if you think that the plum puree is not sharp enough you can add a little bit of lime juice, or mix a few cranberries into a bottle.

It flowers in May and is self-sterile which means it will need another plum tree to bear fruit, best from the Japanese or Reine Claude gage varieties suc as Golden Japan, Queen Victoria or Santa Rosa. It has moderate vigour and forms upright trees about 4m tall. They are best grown untouched, though young trees grown fast for quick commercial yield may need some initial pruning in order to create a strong framework of branches that can hold all their fruit. Pruning is also possible if you wish to keep the tree smaller. Do so at any time between flowering and harvest. It is not picky about soil provided it is not too compacted, stone-based, or water-logged. Warm and sunny locations are essential for best fruit quality. Fully hardy to about -29°C.

Last update 29-10-2016