Blooming pictures of "Gregory's Tree"

I've actually had several people write to me wanting to know where to buy a "Gregory's Tree," like that's its real cultivar name! That cracks me up. This is the page that BY FAR gets the most hits of any of my tree pages. I guess there aren't that many Web sites that feature this tree. (It's not my favorite tree, by the way, but I have to admit, it's photogenic.)

http://www.coffeedrome.com/jtree2f.html

Happy spring!
Joulz

Thank you for providing a good service by including this section (excerpted here):

Thanks Joulz for another opportunity to link to your hard work so that others might move a few extra plants.

While you may direct attention that way...I doubt it's the tree. With your skill at presentation and communication, I bet you could make EQ anticipate an Albizia, Lucky_P lust for Liquidambar, or even Guy go giddily gaga to get Gleditsia triacanthos.

I know this nurseryman out in western KY, when I was there back in February, that every time I asked to see another field with native oaks lined out, would ask, "Sure you don't need no plums?"

Bet he'd give his eyeteeth to have you run his marketing campaign.

LOL I love it, such adorable photos on your link

Thanks everybody! Sorry I missed the followup posts. I've been busy creating my new diary site!

http://www.treegrowersdiary.com

Oh -- Scott -- by the way, I know of a lady out in California who DIDN'T buy a PLP because of my Web site. My marketing plan worked!

On the other hand, a lady wrote to me the other day that she was going to buy a Bradford pear despite my warnings. I grimmace and roll my eyes to the ceiling.

Win a few. Lose a few.
--Joulz

Is there a use for purple plum in nature? Does it feed wildlife?
I think it adds to the attractiveness of a landscape if one has the proper spot to put it. I always wanted one for its color.

LOL, there is a use for nearly everything. Gaudy, wormy purple plums and brittle, invasive callery pears make great firewood, and they can be pretty good for siting in your deer rifle . . .

There are many trees with colored foliage that are so much more refined and permanent than plums -- selected cultivars of Japanese maples, European beeches, sessile oak, redbud, etc. But any of them need very careful placement in the landscape to avoid being totally out of place.

Guy S.

Well, PEOPLE can eat the plums, as long as they don't mind the lack of flavor. I haven't actually observed birds or squirrels eating the plums off my tree, but I suspect they would. The problems: they have weak crotch angles, too many branches growing close together, need a lot of maintenance, attract bees and aphids and other such pests, and then you wouldn't want to plant one where the fruit dropping on the ground would be a mess.

So, yeah, if you had a big space and you didn't care about having a short-lived tree that might easily fall over in an ice storm, then it's a very beautiful tree to have in the landscape. Makes a nice focal point in summer because the leaves stay purple as long as the tree is in full sun. Mine has had beautiful delicate pink flowers for TWO WEEKS now. (This is highly unusual. Last year, there were barely any flowers and they only lasted a couple of days. Previous year: flowers lasted about one week.)

To have one one nicely shaped purple leaf tree in the landscape against the other green stuff is very pretty, though I'm not sure it really looks all that natural. There's no fall color change, except maybe the purple deepens so much it turns dark brown. Blah. (But that's not an issue since it's the SUMMER color that's the seller.)

Does anybody know if these trees are invasive?

I have a non-bearing purple plum tree in my yard. It is beautiful with pink flowers in the spring, red leaves all summer, and no bees. Some of the neighbors liked it and planted some of their own. Now they've moved away and the new neighbors discovered it isn't non-bearing. They have zillions of plums each year. Actually, they taste pretty good, but even neighborhood picking parties are no longer popular. No one can eat that many plums! --Kris

There was a small plum grove near my elementary school. These trees are an excellent height and growth habit for a fort. And you can throw the wormy plums at thine enemies!