Purple-leaf Plum Blooming Time, Flowering Period, Price and Planting Methods: A Complete Guide

Purple-leaf plum, also known as red-leaf plum or cherry plum, is a deciduous small tree of the genus Prunus in the Rosaceae family, reaching up to 8 m in height. It originated in southwestern Asia, and its leaves remain purplish-red year-round, making it a famous foliage tree species. So when does purple-leaf plum usually bloom? How long does the flowering period last? How much does a sapling cost? What are the planting methods? According to Manager Gao of Jiujiang Nursery Company, the current price of an 8 cm purple-leaf plum is around 280 yuan, with a height of 3.6 m and a crown width of about 2.5 m.

When does purple-leaf plum usually bloom? How long does the flowering period last?

1. Purple-leaf plum is one of the more famous foliage plants, and its most eye-catching feature is its purplish-red leaves. It is an excellent flowering plant for landscaping, with beautiful flowers, and its flowering period is mainly in spring. When purple-leaf plum blooms, the flowers are pinkish-white, giving off a faint delicate fragrance. Its flowers also fall like cherry blossoms; when the petals drop, it looks like a sky full of flying snow, a breathtaking sight.

2. The flowering period of purple-leaf plum is April, and the fruiting period is August. Purple-leaf plum has 1 flower, rarely 2; the pedicel is 1-2.2 cm long, hairless or slightly covered with short soft hairs; the flower diameter is 2-2.5 cm; the calyx tube is bell-shaped, the sepals are long ovate with rounded blunt tips and sparse shallow serrations along the edges, nearly equal in length to the sepals; the outer surface of the calyx tube and sepals is hairless, while the inner surface of the calyx tube has sparsely scattered short soft hairs; the petals are white, oblong or spoon-shaped, with wavy edges and a wedge-shaped base, attached to the edge of the calyx tube; there are 25-30 stamens, with filaments of varying lengths, densely arranged in 2 irregular whorls, slightly shorter than the petals; there is 1 pistil, the carpel is covered with long soft hairs, the stigma is disc-shaped, and the style is slightly longer than the stamens, with sparse long soft hairs at the base.

3. The flowering period of purple-leaf plum is from early April to early May, but it usually lasts only about 10-15 days, which is not very long. Blooming opens sequentially from south to north depending on geographical location, so the flowering period varies across the country.

What are the planting methods for purple-leaf plum?

I. Seedling Propagation Techniques

It is not easy to collect seeds from purple-leaf plum, so cutting propagation is a commonly used method. Choose flat terrain with deep sandy loam soil as the seedbed. Apply organic fertilizer to the bed surface, then rake it fine and level it, and then disinfect the soil.

(1) Cuttings: From healthy, pest-free adult trees, select well-lignified, plump-budded 1-2 year old high-quality shoots, cut them into 10-16 cm cuttings, tie them in bundles and soak them in rooting powder, and then they are ready for cutting.

(2) Cutting: Collecting shoots and cutting around the Autumn Equinox is most suitable, as it is easier to maintain moisture and favorable for healing and rooting. On the prepared seedbed, insert cuttings at a spacing of 15×25 cm or 5×8 cm, with a depth of 3/4 of the cutting, leaving 1-2 buds exposed, and finally firm the soil.

(3) Management: Water immediately after cutting, and set up a plastic arched shed over the seedbed, with a shed height of 50-80 cm. When the temperature inside the shed reaches 30°C, open the shed for ventilation. Before winter, add straw curtains to prevent frost damage. In March of the following year, as the temperature rises, purple-leaf plum sprouts and roots; pay attention to ventilation and air permeability, loosen the soil and remove weeds in time, and fertilize and irrigate. Spray foliar fertilizer about once every 15 days, and apply nitrogen fertilizer once every two months with thorough watering. For large saplings used in landscaping, they can be transplanted to another bed, with a spacing of 40×50 cm; after two years of cultivation, the sapling height can reach 2-3 m. The trunk-setting height is preferably about 1.5 m, and it will sprout clustered branches.

II. Planting Techniques

Purple-leaf plum can generally be planted in courtyards, squares, lawns, streets and roadsides, and near buildings. For large saplings over two meters, dig a hole of 80×60×40 cm, transplant the sapling with soil, keep the root system intact and moist, and water thoroughly immediately after planting. After 2-3 years of planting, in order to keep the crown compact and symmetrical, inner branches, upper competing branches and diseased or pest-infested branches can be pruned.