Belle de Louvain

A very large and attractive red-purple cooking plum.

Origin: Belgium, 1845

Pollination: Belle de Louvain is partially self-fertile and would produce some crop without a pollinator but would benefit considerably from a pollinator.Find pollination partners >

British-grown All our bare-root trees are personally hand-grafted by our Nursery Manager and grown on at our nursery in Kent. We have Defra and Plant Healthy certification. More ...

Belle de Louvain plum and gage trees produced to order

Closing date for custom graft orders: 14 Jul 2026

We do not stock this variety, but we can produce custom-graft trees for you. Trees can be grafted on any of the following rootstocks:

Form	Rootstock	Price	Quantity
Maiden	VVA-1Dwarfing	£39.00
Maiden	AdaptabilSemi-vigorous	£39.00

Custom graft trees would be supplied in December 2027. More details of our custom grafting service here.

History and description of Belle de Louvain

Believed to be an old Belgian variety first found in the Van Mons collection in 1845. Has been grown commercially to a small extent in the past in England. Belgium and the Netherlands.

Large, long oval-oblong fruit, flattened on one side. Dark red skin turning purple when fully ripe. Yellow, dryish flesh and semi-clinging stone. Little flavour as a dessert plum but excellent colour and flavour when cooked or made into jam.
br> Very vigorous upright tree with characteristic large, dark green leaves with heavily serrated edges. Reliable and prolific cropper but slow to come into bearing. Hardy with good frost resistance. Good as a windbreak. Will tollerate shade and can be grown on a North facing wall.

Characteristics of Belle de Louvain plum and gage trees

Use	Culinary
Colour	Purple
Flavour
Fruit size	Large
Picking time
Season of use	L Aug
Tree vigour	Vigorous
Tree habit	Upright
Fruit-bearing
Cropping	Good
Suitable for	Late Frost Northern Britain Shade
Pollination date	24
Pollination group	D
Self-fertility	Partially self-fertile
Pollinators	Pollination partners