SANTA ROSA PLUM: Wow! I have 10 plum trees, all but three or four, Japanese. The three or four are: "Santa Rosa" (which I think is of Japanese origin thanks to the famous California fruit tree breeder, Luther Burbank), two Canadian "Pembina" which will pollinate Japanese plums, and one European "Staniel"! I did have three European "Damson" plums which all succumbed to "Black Knot" about two years ago, which gave us over the years, however, fantastic "Damson" plum jam, and were very sweet to eat. The Japanese are loaded every year with both yellow and red round fruit and are extremely sweet. Getting back to the "Santa Rosa", I have had one for about four years, and last year, it had quite a few blossoms on it! I was excited! Then, as the Summer wore on, it looked like it was dying from the top down, just like a multi-grafted Cherry tree just a short distance from it. I so wanted to taste a "Santa Rosa" plum!!! It was almost like fireblight in pear trees. There is, unfortunately, a small amount of "Black Knot" starting to appear on a couple of my Japanese plums as well!!!!! In my second tour of my gardens, yet to be posted, I am pretty certain I see some new growth on the Cherry, but none yet on the "Santa Rosa". I am keeping the faith!!! Sally, I must look for suckers off the roots!! Thanks.
