Kea plum trees

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• Picking season: Mid
• Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
• Flowering group: 3

Kea plum trees originate from the parish of Kea in the valley of the river Fal near Truro and Falmouth in Cornwall. The plums, are usually a dull dark red colour but may also be a blue/black colour. They have a sharp flavour, not particularly nice for eating fresh, but ideal for jam-making.

Kea plum trees for sale

Growing and Training

The Kea plum evolved in the challenging mild damp climate of Cornwall, and as a result the trees are generally disease-resistant and easy to grow. Kea plums are reasonably self-fertile and a pollinator variety is not needed, although cropping will be improved if there is another different plum variety nearby.

Kea characteristics

British-grown trees

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK. Find out more

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden whilst it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund - subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about plum trees

Czar, a dark blue plum, is perhaps the best known English cooking plum, but Purple Pershore and Yellow Pershore, and Blaisdon Red are all superb for plum jam.

Adventurous cooks might want to experiment with plum cookery traditions from elsewhere. Try Hauszetsche, a kind of "zwetchen" plum popular in central Europe, and characterised by a very dry sweet flesh