Oullins Gage
The flavour of a true gage yet also easy to grow. Useful for both dessert and culinary uses.
A French gage with the classic gage-like flavour, yet whereas most gages prefer warm climates, Oullins Gage also grows well in the cooler climates of the UK and northern Europe. Rated by the noted Victorian writer Hogg as having "exquisite flavour and handsome appearance".
Oullins Gage gets its name from the town of Oullins near Lyon in France, where it was first discovered. It is also known as Reine Claude d'Oullins.
The fruit is large by gage standards - more like a small plum (and reckoned by some experts as a gage-like plum rather than a true gage). It is a particularly attractive golden colour, 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 - perhaps not as good as some others, but far better than most shop-bought plums. For culinary use, pick slightly early when it is still firm. The flavour 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-like plum) 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.
Summary
- Species: Prunus domestica
- Origin: Oullins, near Lyon, France
- Introduced: 1860
- Developed by: M. Massot
- Orange Pippin Cultivar ID: 124800
Identification
- Fruit colour: Yellow
- Flesh colour: Yellow
- Fruit size: Large
- Fruit shape: Round
- Stone clinging?: Semi-clinging
Using
- Good for eating fresh
- Good for cooking
- Flavour quality: Good
- Flavour style: Sweeter
- Ripening period: Mid season mid-August
- Use / keeping: 1 week
Growing
- Cropping: Light
- Flowering period: Mid-Late season
- Flowering group: 4
- Fertility: Self-fertile
- Good pollinator: Yes
- Vigour: Large
- Precocity: Slow to start bearing
Climate
- Suitable for temperate climates
- Tolerates cold winters
- Suitable for N. England?: Yes The best gage for growing in the northern UK - but make sure it gets a sunny aspect
Other qualities
- RHS Award of Garden Merit 1993
Disease resistance
- Bacterial canker Pseudomonas syringae - Some resistance
Relationships to other varieties
Offspring of this variety:
Oullins Gage identification photos from website visitors
Copyright: R.Drage
Copyright: R. Drage
Fruit tree register
Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please register the details here and contribute to our international register of fruit trees.
The following Oullins Gage trees have been registered - click the name to view more details of each tree.
You can also view these trees on a map.
United Kingdom
- Bruce Nottrodt in TAUNTON, SOMERSET
- David Harmston in SLEAFORD, Lincs
- David Scholes in SADDLEWORTH,
- Graham Hinchliffe in EASTBOURNE, EAST SUSSEX
- James in MELBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE
- Mr Alan Frost in BOURNEMOUTH, DORSET
- Philip Wray in ANDOVER, HAMPSHIRE
- Rachel in DOWNHAM MARKET, NORFOLK
- Rhiannon Harrington in READING, BERKSHIRE
- Richard Borrie in YORK, Yorkshire
- Roger Drage in BURTON LATIMER, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
- Simon Pegg in BELLINGDON, BUCKS
- Vic Pogson in LEEDS, YORKSHIRE
Denmark
- Hanne Olsen in COPENHAGEN,
Poland
- Richard in KRAKOW,
Latest Spring blossom records for this variety
2012 season
- 14th April 2012 - tree owned by Roger in BURTON LATIMER, United Kingdom
- 10th April 2012 - tree owned by Simon in BELLINGDON, United Kingdom
- 31st March 2012 - tree owned by Richard in YORK, United Kingdom
2011 season
- 8th April 2011 - tree owned by David in SLEAFORD, United Kingdom
- 5th April 2011 - tree owned by Roger in BURTON LATIMER, United Kingdom
2010 season
- 23rd April 2010 - tree owned by Roger in BURTON LATIMER, United Kingdom
- 19th April 2010 - tree owned by Richard in YORK, United Kingdom
Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.
Latest harvest records for this variety
2012 season
2011 season
- 3rd week July 2011 - tree owned by Roger in BURTON LATIMER, United Kingdom
- 3rd week July 2011 - tree owned by Simon in BELLINGDON, United Kingdom
2010 season
- 2nd week July 2010 - tree owned by Roger in BURTON LATIMER, United Kingdom
Mature heights for Oullins Gage trees
This table shows the likely mature height for a Oullins Gage tree taking into account the vigor of the variety, the rootstock, and soil conditions.
| Rootstock | Soil quality | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poor | Below average | Average | Above average | Very good | |
| Pixy | 7.2 ft 2.2 m |
9.0 ft 2.8 m |
10.8 ft 3.3 m |
13.5 ft 4.1 m |
16.2 ft 5.0 m |
| St.Julien | 9.0 ft 2.8 m |
11.3 ft 3.5 m |
13.5 ft 4.1 m |
16.9 ft 5.2 m |
20.3 ft 6.2 m |
| Brompton | 14.4 ft 4.4 m |
18.0 ft 5.5 m |
21.6 ft 6.6 m |
27.0 ft 8.3 m |
32.4 ft 9.9 m |
From an idea by N. Buck - more details.
Plum, gage, damson trees
The following fruit tree nurseries offer Oullins Gage gage trees for sale:
-
Orange Pippin Fruit Trees (UK)
United Kingdom Supplier's website >>
Where to buy plums to eat
No orchards have registered as growing this variety. If you grow this and want to register please go to our Orchard Registration form.
Rate this variety for flavor