Santa Rosa Plum
Prunus 'Santa Rosa'

Height: 20 feet
Spread: 20 feet
Sunlight: Full sun
Hardiness Zone: 4b

Description:
A popular Japanese plum variety producing large, crimson red fruit with sweet, juicy yellow flesh. This upright spreading tree is both highly ornamental and productive, thriving in full sun and well-drained soil. While capable of producing fruit on its own, yields improve significantly when planted near another compatible plum variety for cross pollination.

Edible Qualities:
Santa Rosa Plum produces round crimson fruit with firm yellow flesh and a sweet, juicy flavor. The fruit ripens in late summer and contains a hard inedible pit that must be removed before use. It is well suited for fresh eating, cooking, baking, and preserves.

The fruit is most often used in the following ways:
- Fresh eating
- Cooking
- Baking
- Preserves

Ornamental Features:
Santa Rosa Plum is covered in fragrant white flowers in early spring before the foliage emerges, creating an impressive seasonal display. Forest green deciduous foliage follows, turning yellow in fall. The bright red fruit adds ornamental interest during the harvest season, though fallen fruit may require cleanup.

Landscape Attributes:
This is a deciduous fruit tree with an upright spreading growth habit and an average texture that blends well into edible landscapes and home orchards. It requires occasional maintenance and is best pruned in late winter after the risk of severe cold has passed. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristics that may warrant special consideration:
- Messy fruit drop
- Susceptibility to disease

Santa Rosa Plum is recommended for the following landscape applications:
- Accent planting
- Orchard and edible landscaping

Planting & Growing:
Santa Rosa Plum will grow to approximately 20 feet tall and wide at maturity, with a low canopy and a typical clearance of about 4 feet from the ground. Space trees adequately to allow for airflow and sunlight penetration. It grows at a medium rate and can live for 40 years or more under ideal conditions. Although capable of setting fruit on its own, planting another plum variety nearby will improve fruit production.

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers average to evenly moist soil and does not tolerate standing water. It adapts to a wide range of soil types and pH levels and is highly tolerant of urban pollution, making it suitable for residential landscapes. This variety is an interspecific hybrid.