Victoria plum
A very popular English plum, especially good for culinary use. Heavy crops of attractive plum-coloured fruit.
The Victoria plum is by far the most popular plum variety in the UK. It is also probably the most popular fruit tree of any species sold in UK garden centres, being self-fertile and well-known for heavy crops of very attractive fruit with a lovely red-plum colour. English gardeners wanting to grow a plum tree tend to look no further, and with good reason.
As the name suggests, Victoria dates from the Victorian era but not much is known about its origins. It was introduced in the 1840s and rapidly became a popular garden and commercial variety - a position it has maintained ever since.
Victoria really excels as a culinary plum. It cooks to a distinctive pink/orange puree which makes very good jam and a good-flavoured filling for pies and crumbles.
Victoria plums are sometimes considered inferior to other dessert plum varieties for eating fresh. However this assumption is probably based on the poor flavour of shop-bought Victoria plums, which are usually picked far too early. The trick with Victoria is to leave the plums on the tree until they are fully ripe - the skins will start to become a darker red rather than the more usual orange flushed colour. At this point the flavour, whilst not perhaps comparable with the best dessert plums, should not disappoint. (However, if you are intending to use the plums for cooking with, then it is best to pick them slightly under-ripe).
This combination of excellent culinary qualities along with pretty good flavour for eating fresh makes Victoria one of the most versatile English plum varieties. However Victoria suffers from two serious problems. Firstly it has very poor disease resistance to the plum disease silverleaf. This is a fungal disease that enters through open wounds in the bark, and for this reason Victoria plum trees, like all plum trees, should never be pruned in winter - in fact it is best to avoid pruning entirely with this variety.
Secondly, the wood is brittle, and given its tendency to over-crop, tends to result in branches breaking under the weigh of fruit - which of course are then exposed to disease infection.
Growing a Victoria plum tree is therefore a good way to gain first-hand experience of silverleaf. However whilst fruit trees that are prone to disease are often best avoided, paradoxically, Victoria is a very easy variety to grow - the inherent heavy-cropping capability means the tree tends to keep going regardless of the inevitable disease and broken branches it accumulates within a few years. It is therefore a very good choice for the gardener who wants to grow fresh plums, (although given its tendency to lose branches, perhaps not as a specimen tree).
Summary
- Species: Prunus domestica
- Origin: Alderton, Sussex, United Kingdom
- Introduced: 1840s
- Orange Pippin Cultivar ID: 125500
Identification
- Fruit colour: Red / mottled
- Flesh colour: Yellow
- Fruit size: Medium
- Fruit shape: Long / oval
- Stone clinging?: Free stone
- Sub-group: Lombard
Using
- Good for eating fresh
- Good for cooking
- Cooking result: Puree
- Flavour quality: Good
- Flavour style: Sweet/Sharp
- Ripening period: Mid season Late August
- Use / keeping: 1 week
Growing
- Cropping: Heavy
- Flowering period: Mid season
- Flowering group: 3
- Fertility: Self-fertile
- Good pollinator: Yes
- Vigour: Average growth
- Gardening skill: Average
- Attractive fruit
- Frost-resistant blossom
- General disease resistance: Poor
Climate
- Suitable for temperate climates
- Tolerates cold winters
- Suitable for N. England?: Yes
Other qualities
- RHS Award of Garden Merit 1993
Disease resistance
- Plum pox virus (Sharka) - Some susceptibility
- Bacterial canker Pseudomonas syringae - Very susceptible
- Silverleaf Chondrostereum purpureum - Very susceptible
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 Victoria 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
- Ak in Macclesfield, ENGLAND
- Alan Elsbury in CHIPPENHAM, WILTSHIRE
- Alex in
- Andy in SURREY,
- Anja Britton in NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
- Bruce Nottrodt in TAUNTON, SOMERSET
- Christine Woolass in GOOLE, YORKSHIRE
- Christopher in SLEAFORD, LINCS
- Colin P Dolding in HANLEY CASTLE, WORCESTERSHIRE
- Dave Hoare in HAREFIELD, MIDDLESEX
- David Harmston in EWERBY THORPE, SLEAFORD, LINCS
- David Scholes in SADDLEWORTH,
- David Stuart in GATESHEAD, TYNE AND WEAR
- Davidjohndawkins in ELY, CAMBS
- Dianne Trembath in NEWPORT, SHROPSHIRE
- Eileen Brown in BLAIRGOWRIE, PERTH AND KINROSS
- Hazel Chipchase in CHEADLE HULME, CHESHIRE
- Jacqueline Lawrence in MILFORD HAVEN, Pembrokeshire
- James in MELBOURNE, DERBYSHIRE
- Jane Cannig in EVESHAM,, WORCESTERSHIRE.
- John Coggin in WALTON LE DALE, LANCS
- Laurence Streatfield in HAYLE, CORNWALL
- Linda Robinson in DARLINGTON, DURHAM
- Lol Peacock in NOTTINGHAM, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
- Lucy Newbury in MELKSHAM, WILTSHIRE
- margaret in STONEHAVEN,
- Margaret Parsons in HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE
- Mark Davies in SADDLEWORTH, YORKSHIRE
- Mrs Cherry Steel in BINGLEY, WEST YORKSHIRE
- Mrs Sophie Wiles in FLAMBOROUGH, EAST YORKSHIRE
- Mrs Stephanie Bond in STOURTON CAUNDLE, DORSET
- N. Buck in CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE
- Nick Butcher in NORTH CURRY, SOMERSET
- Nickkk in OLDHAM, LANCASHIRE
- Paul Knight in EASTLEIGH, HAMPSHIRE
- Peter Radmore in PORT TALBOT, SOUTH WALES UK
- Peter Willis in PETERBOROUGH, CAMBS
- Raymond Green in KINGUSSIE, INVERNESS-SHIRE, SCOTLAND
- Richard Borrie in YORK, Yorkshire
- stanwatt2008@hotmail.co.uk in GARDENSTOWN, ABERDEENSHIRE
- Trudy Prynne in READING
- Victoria Birkett in ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND
Ireland
- Nikolai in DUBLIN, DUBLIN
- Simon Clarke in DULEEK, COUNTY MEATH
Poland
- Richard in KRAKOW,
Latest Spring blossom records for this variety
2012 season
- 18th April 2012 - tree owned by stanwatt2008@hotmail.co.uk in GARDENSTOWN, United Kingdom
- 18th April 2012 - tree owned by Nickkk in OLDHAM, United Kingdom
- 7th April 2012 - tree owned by Peter in PETERBOROUGH, United Kingdom
- 5th April 2012 - tree owned by Alan in CHIPPENHAM, United Kingdom
- 4th April 2012 - tree owned by Bruce in TAUNTON, United Kingdom
- 28th March 2012 - tree owned by Simon in DULEEK, Ireland
- 24th March 2012 - tree owned by David in GATESHEAD, United Kingdom
2011 season
- 9th April 2011 - tree owned by Peter in PETERBOROUGH, United Kingdom
- 6th April 2011 - tree owned by Richard in YORK, United Kingdom
- 5th April 2011 - tree owned by Simon in DULEEK, Ireland
- 4th April 2011 - tree owned by James in MELBOURNE, United Kingdom
- 4th April 2011 - tree owned by David in EWERBY THORPE, SLEAFORD, United Kingdom
- 1st April 2011 - tree owned by Alan in CHIPPENHAM, United Kingdom
2010 season
- 18th April 2010 - tree owned by N. in CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom
- 1st April 2010 - tree owned by Nikolai in DUBLIN, Ireland
2009 season
- 3rd April 2009 - tree owned by N. in CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom
Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.
Latest harvest records for this variety
2012 season
2011 season
- 1st week September 2011 - tree owned by Mark in SADDLEWORTH, United Kingdom
- 3rd week August 2011 - tree owned by Peter in PETERBOROUGH, United Kingdom
- 3rd week August 2011 - tree owned by Simon in DULEEK, Ireland
- 2nd week August 2011 - tree owned by James in MELBOURNE, United Kingdom
2010 season
- 3rd week August 2010 - tree owned by Nikolai in DUBLIN, Ireland
- 2nd week August 2010 - tree owned by Dianne in NEWPORT, United Kingdom
2009 season
Mature heights for Victoria trees
This table shows the likely mature height for a Victoria 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 | 5.6 ft 1.7 m |
7.0 ft 2.1 m |
8.4 ft 2.6 m |
10.5 ft 3.2 m |
12.6 ft 3.9 m |
| St.Julien | 7.0 ft 2.1 m |
8.8 ft 2.7 m |
10.5 ft 3.2 m |
13.1 ft 4.0 m |
15.8 ft 4.8 m |
| Brompton | 11.2 ft 3.4 m |
14.0 ft 4.3 m |
16.8 ft 5.2 m |
21.0 ft 6.4 m |
25.2 ft 7.7 m |
From an idea by N. Buck - more details.
Plum, gage, damson trees
The following fruit tree nurseries offer Victoria plum 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.
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