Prunus domestica 'Coe's Golden Drop' (D)

RHS Plant Profile
plum 'Coe's Golden Drop'
plum 'Coe's Golden Drop' RHS
Plants for pollinators
Fruit Edible Trees

One of the best-tasting dessert plums with a rich, gage-style flavour. The fruits are yellow, spotted with red, and ready to pick in mid-autumn, but it is a light and erratic cropper and needs good growing conditions to thrive. Self sterile, in pollination group 2

Position

Full sun

Soil Types

Loam, Sand

Max Height

2.5-4 metres

Max Spread

2.5-4 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
5–10 years
Max Spread
2.5-4 metres
Max Height
2.5-4 metres

Growing Conditions

Loam Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained or Well–drained
pH
Acid or Neutral

Position

Full sun
Aspect
West–facing or South–facing
Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness
H5

Colour & Scent

Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family
Rosaceae
Native to GB/Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Genus
Prunus can be deciduous or evergreen trees or shrubs with showy flowers in spring, and often good autumn foliage colour. Some have edible fruit in autumn, and a few species have ornamental bark
Name Status
Unresolved
Horticultural Group
Dessert cherries are sweet and juicy and are best eaten picked fresh and raw

How to Grow

Cultivation

Grow in full sun in a sheltered position in moist, but well-drained soil, ideally with a pH of 6 to 6.5. Irrigate in dry periods. Fruit thinning may be required

Propagation

Propagate by chip budding or grafting. Trees grown from stones will not resemble the parent

Suggested planting locations and garden types

  • Cottage and informal garden
  • City and courtyard gardens
  • Wildlife gardens
  • Edible fruit
  • Wall side borders

Pruning

Regular pruning required according to tree form, see pruning plums or pruning established fans

Pests

May be susceptible to plum aphid, caterpillars, fruit tree red spider mite, brown scale, plum moth and bullfinches

Diseases

May be susceptible to peach leaf curl, silver leaf, bacterial canker, blossom wilt and honey fungus