Oullins Golden Gage plum trees

• Picking season: Mid mid-August
• Self-fertility: Self-fertile
• Flowering group: 4
• Awards: RHS AGM (current) 1993

A French gage with the classic gage-like flavour, yet whereas most gages prefer warm climates, Oullins Gage also grows well in cooler climates. Rated by the noted Victorian writer Hogg as having "exquisite flavor and handsome appearance".

The fruit is large by gage standards - more like a small plum. It is a particularly attractive golden color, with faint red dots - very pretty in a fruit bowl.

Oullins Gage is equally good for fresh or culinary use. Eaten fresh, the flesh is sweet and gage-like - and far better than most shop-bought plums. For culinary use, pick slightly early when it is still firm. The flavor of Oullins Gage is also fairly consistent between seasons, and it will perform well even in a poor summer.

The stone is semi-clinging.

It is interesting to compare Oullins Gage (a gage but with some plum-like characteristics) with one of its offspring - Opal. Opal is a true plum but best considered as a gage-like plum, since it inherits some of the gage-like flavour of Oullins Gage.

Oullins Golden Gage plum trees for sale

Pot-grown

All our pot-grown trees are grown for us to our specification by the Frank P Matthews nursery.

All pot-grown trees are suitable for planting out in the garden, some are suitable for growing in containers.

• PG12-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree VVA-1 rootstock£62.00
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Medium tree (2m-3m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• PG22-year bush-trained 12L pot-grown tree St. Julien rootstock£60.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

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• PG3Premium half-standard 12L pot-grown tree St. Julien rootstock£63.50
  Grown for us by Frank P Matthews nursery
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

  012345678910

Bare-root

• BR11-year bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£38.75< 5 in stock
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• BR22-year bush-trained bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£47.50
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season
• BR32-year half-standard bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£51.00< 5 in stock
  Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  

  Out of stock
  Please try next season

Need help? Ask our fruit tree experts

Call us on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Next deliveries

Order now for delivery from week commencing 31st March

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

Growing and Training

Compared to most gages, Oullins Gage is easy to grow and will succeed in more northerly climates than is usual for gages.

Oullins Gage has a tendency to be slow to come into bearing, and if left to its own devices it is not unusual for the tree to be 4-5 years old before it begins fruiting. The fruit is certainly worth the wait, but you can also take steps to speed things up a bit! One of the reasons for the delay in fruiting is its growth habit, which is vigorous and upright - it may help to gently tie down new side branches to give a more open appearance, and this will also encourage earlier fruiting. Similarly, once the tree has clearly established itself in your garden, be wary of over-feeding it, as it will respond by growing even more - rather than fruiting.

Oullins Gage is also a good pollinator for other mid-flowering plums and gages. Its flowering period is typically around 2 days ahead of Victoria.

History

According to the English author Hogg (writing in the 1880s), the exact origins of this variety are unknown but it was first marketed in the 1860s by M. Massot, a nurseryman from the town of Oullins, near Lyon in France.

Oullins Golden Gage 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

Eating plums, also known as dessert plums, offer some of the sweetest flavours possible in the temperate garden, rivaling the best of tropical fruits. We particularly rate Avalon, Oullins Gage, Cambridge Gage, Coe's Golden Drop, Old Green Gage, and Opal.

There are several things you can do, as the gardener, to enhance the flavours of these sweet fruits. Firstly, try to plant the tree in full sun - because it is sunlight that ripens the fruits and ensures the maximum sweetness. Secondly, thin the fruitlets in June. To be fair, thinning plum fruitlets is a tedious job, but it is well worth doing because most plum varieties set too many fruits, which leads to poorer fruit size and bland flavours. So if you think your tree has over-set, carefully prune off the developing fruitlets, and don't be surprised if you end up removing half of them or even more - the tree will reward you later on.