Wild Goose Plum Seeds

Fresh Eating-Best Quality-Hybrid Vigor in Seedling Progeny-Excellent Production of Clean Fruit

I was fortunate to get this original wild goose plum tree from a well known plum expert in Virginia. I grafted it onto several American plum rootstocks and planted it out on a wind swept hill. From there the trees began to fruit after eight years of waiting. Since then I added its seedlings next to it which greatly increased the yields from 8 plums to several hundred plums per year. This original form matches the original taxonomy of the variety and has survived well in Michigan producing delicious plums that can be eaten direct from the tree. The ripening period is long starting in the second and third week of July and continues through August. The plums ripen one by one along the branches going from yellow to red. The flesh is translucent yellow and very sweet once fully ripened. 

The original story about this tree comes from a hunter who found the seed in the crop of a goose and planted it. Since then many seedlings from this tree were distributed under the name ‘wild goose’. My source had the original Wild Goose plum and he suggested I not grow it from seed. We grafted the selection on American plum rootstock where it lives today at my farm in southwestern Michigan.   

From seeds, this plum produces an amazing array of seedlings which show hybrid vigor and an array of crosses with beach, chickasaw and dunbars plums. Worthwhile to grow to make new cultivars. It can be harvested and eaten fresh off the tree without astringency or tartness but not like the insipid bland overly sweet California plums. The populations generated from it turned out to be equally as impressive and certainly worth growing from seed without selection. It takes 5-6 years to fruit from seed. Seedlings reach 8-10 ft. tall before fruit set. Some trees are naturally more fruitful. 

To germinate the seeds:  Plant outside in the fall 1/2 inch deep with seeds spaced 1 inch apart.  Some seeds will germinate the first spring.  Keep in mind with the wild goose plum a portion of the seeds will germinate the second spring. For the refrigerator method, put your seeds in a zip lock bag with lightly moist Canadian peat moss for 60-120 days at 33-38 F.  Never freeze plum seeds.  Seeds will begin germinating in 60-90 days and the seeds will crack open. Take these out and plant in pots that contain well aerated sandy or perlite rich soil mix. Avoid using heavy compost as the roots rot easily. A portion of the seeds will need an additional warm (120 plus days room temperature) and cold stratification (as above) to break dormancy.

20 by 20 spacing 109 trees per acre.     Wild goose plum needs as much space as a peach tree for most applications. 

20 by 30 spacing  73 trees per acre.       30 ft. rows is ideal as it provides more room for driving as the lower limbs can get large.

Hedgerow  5-10 ft. apart  assuming no vegetation on either side-full sun.  100 trees would make a a row 500 ft. to 1000 ft. long. 

All seeds have been floated to eliminate blanks. From 2024 crop year and refrigerated.