Varieties of Flowering Plum Trees

Flowering plum trees brighten yards and landscapes.

Flowering plum trees brighten yards and landscapes.

Plum trees (Prunus spp.) with white or pink flowers bring beauty and color to yards and landscapes. Growing in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 10 and other regions throughout the world, plum trees often produce small, berrylike fruits or drupes. Whether deciduous or evergreen, their foliage is typically green, purple, bronze or red. So you can choose trees that fit best with a structure and color design.

White Flowers

Ornamental plum tree varieties attract birds and other wildlife that sample the trees' fragrant blooms and tasty fruits. White-bloom producing plum trees include "Pigeon," "Chickasaw" and "Flatwoods." "Pigeon" (Coccoloba diversifolia) plum grows up to 25 feet tall and 35 feet wide. It produces dark-green, oblong, leathery leaves that do not change color in autumn as well as white, showy flowers and small, round and fleshy, purple fruits. "Pigeon" plum provides a thick canopy for shade. "Chickasaw" (P. angustifolia) plum trees grow to 25 feet tall and wide with thorny branches on short trunks. Their deciduous green leaves do not change color in fall, but their white flowers, which bloom through winter in warm climates, emit a fragrant scent. "Chickasaw" trees produce fruits that grow from 1/2 to 1 inch wide. "Flatwoods" (P. umbellata) plum trees sprout small, white flower clusters in spring and winter and sweet-to-tart purple fruits. "Flatwoods" trees are deciduous, and their green leaves turn yellow in autumn.

Pink and Pink-White Flowers

Pink and pink-white flowers blossom on some plum tree cultivars with variously colored leaves. For example, "Thundercloud" (P. cerasifera) -- or “Cherry Plum,” as it is commonly called -- sprouts ruby leaves that darken to reddish-purple. Its pinkish-white flowers bloom in spring and are followed by edible purple fruits, each about 1 inch wide. Its foliage turns purple in fall. "Pissard" (P. cerasifera atropurpurea) plum trees have pink and white flowers that bloom in spring. Their leaves are bright red at first, darken to purple through mid-summer and turn green-bronze by the season’s end. "Pissard" trees produce tiny purple fruits, and their fall color is purple. "Krauter Vesuvius" (P. cerasifera), with its pink flowers, has the darkest foliage of flowering plum trees -- purplish-black. It may produce fruits but only sporadically.

Dwarf and Semi-Dwarf

Dwarf flowering plum trees grow 8 to 10 feet tall, and semi-dwarf varieties reach a few feet taller. For example, "Dwarf Natal Plum" (Carissa macrocarpa) is an evergreen ground-cover plant that grows only 12 to 18 inches high but spreads from 4 to 8 feet wide. It has small, green, leathery leaves on forked spines. Its white, star-shaped flowers bloom in spring, and its red fruits are used to make jellies and preserves. Dwarf "Red-Leaf" plum (P. x cistena) grows from 6 to 10 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. Its bright, reddish-purple new leaves turn coppery-purple as they mature. The tree produces single white flowers and small, purple-black fruits. Semi-dwarf flowering cultivars include "Purple Pony," which grows up to 12 feet tall and produces deep-purple leaves and single, pale-pink flowers, and "Big Cis," which reaches up to 14 feet tall and has large, purple leaves, single white flowers and small, purple-black fruits.


Many flowering plum tree cultivars produce fruits of various colors, textures, flavors and sizes. American cultivars such as "Wild Plum" and "Goose Plum" (P. americana), with short trunks and thorny branches, grow up to 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Their small, white flowers and reddish-yellow fruits attract birds and other wildlife. People enjoy Americana cultivars for tangy plums eaten fresh or in preserves. The "Mexican" (P. mexicana) variety of plum trees grow to about 30 feet tall and spread up to 25 feet wide. They form canopies of greenish-yellow leaves that are fuzzy on one side and shiny on the other side. Their white flowers bloom in spring and are followed by purple-red drupe fruits. Mainly tart-sweet tasting, their fruits are eaten fresh or processed into jellies and preserves. Deciduous leaves on "Mexican" plum trees turn bright orange in fall.

About the Author

Teri Silver began a career in 1984 as a news, sports and feature writer/reporter, anchor, editor, producer and program host for central Ohio radio and television stations. She has done work for stations including WTVN, WMNI and WOSU (NPR). Silver has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism with an English minor from The Ohio State University.

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