Few trees are as beautiful as the wild plums blooming in early spring. This picture was taken at the end of February in the 40 acre woods. The white blooms cover the whole tree before the new leaves bud out.

Plums will ripen in June / July to a dark, almost black color. I think they resemble the large imported plums in shape, only much smaller. These are more of a grape sized fruit. Well ripened and soft they can be quite sweet, but most have a tart taste. They have a hard pit in the middle and will grow readily from seed.

They can be eaten out of hand, but they are more famous for making great jelly. Be ready to pick them quickly when they start to ripen, all the other animals in the woods love these as well and will eat everything they can reach. I have watched deer greedily eat everything they can find on the ground and strain to reach as far up in the tree as possible to get more.