Prunus maritima
Beach Plum
- Coastal native
- Provides food for humans and garden critters
- Tolerant of poor soils
- Upright, branched and rounded habit
- Deep green foliage
- Small, white, cherry-like flowers
- Blooms late April to mid-May
- .75-1" plums great for jellies and jams
- Easy to grow
- Attracts birds
- Category: Shrub
- Hardiness Zone: 3-8
- Height: 6-7 Feet
- Spread :6-7 Feet
- Bloom Color: White Shades
This coastal native of the New England and mid-atlantic states offers a strong dose of beauty, food for humans and garden critters, and amazing tolerance for the worst soils a landscape can offer! Beach plum displays a loose, upright branched rounded habit with deep green foliage. Small, white, cherry-like flowers cover its branches starting in late April and continuing into mid-May providing an abundant nectar source for a wide array of native insects. As summer lengthens, an abundant supply of .75 to 1" diameter plums mature from green to dark purple creating an abundant food source for untold numbers of birds and a traditional source of jellies and jams that have been created locally in the northeast since colonial times. Beach Plum is easy to grow, is native to dune areas so it will tolerate drought and the most sandy, unfertile soils, loves full sun, and provides great protection and sustenance to a vast number of garden critters.