Early Orleans

An excellent red culinary plum and a reasonable dessert plum

Origin: France, 1600

Pollination: Early Orleans 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 ...

Early Orleans 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	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 Early Orleans

Exact origins not known. Probably of French origin but known in the UK since the 17th Century.

Medium sized, round-oval fruit. Dark red skin with a thick purple bloom and small russet dots on the surface. Firm yellow juicy flesh. Sweet with pleasant flavour. Stone free. Excellent cooking plum and reasonable as a dessert plum.

Small tree with irregular cropping heavy in some years and light in others.

Characteristics of Early Orleans plum and gage trees

Use	Dual Cul & Des
Colour	Red
Flavour	Sweet
Fruit size	Medium
Picking time
Season of use	Aug
Tree vigour	Small
Tree habit	Upright-spreading
Fruit-bearing
Cropping	Erratic
Pollination date	21
Pollination group	C
Self-fertility	Partially self-fertile
Pollinators	Pollination partners
Progeny	Langley Bullace