Reine Claude Violette plum trees

Check pollinators >

• Picking season: Late
• Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
• Flowering group: 3

Reine Claude Violette is an old French variety, probably dating back to the 18th century. It has the characteristic sweet rich flavour which is so sought-after by plum enthusiasts.

English fruit enthusiast Robert Hogg, writing in the 1880s rates it as "A dessert plum of the greatest excellence, and particularly richly flavoured if allowed to hang on until it shrivels". It is sometimes known as Purple Gage in the UK - whereas most gages are green or yellow, this one has a dusky purple colour when fully ripe.

This is a late-season plum, ripening in the UK in late August - early September.

Reine Claude Violette 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)
  

  012345678910
• 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)
  

  012345678910

Bare-root

• BR11-year bare-root treeSt. Julien rootstock£38.75
  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

Reine Claude Violette is fairly easy to grow. It does best in warm dry climates, but is a bit less prone to fruit-splitting in spells of wet weather than some other plums and gages.

Although not well-known in the UK, this variety is still widely grown in France

History

Reine Claude Violette is part of the Reine Claude group of plums, known in the UK as gages. These plums have a characteristic sweet almost melon-like flavour and are usually smaller than regular English plums.

Reine Claude Violette 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.