Ripe Fruits in UK – Early July 2025

We are getting roasted today with a temperature of 34 deg C !!. Fruit crops are about 2 weeks early. Our hay crop was down by 43%, with many local farmers not getting a corn crop, due to early-season drought. Hosepipe bans are in many parts of the country. We are just not used to it.

The first plum every year to be ripe is the “Gek”, a bright yellow coloured plum. It crops regularly with heavy crops that produce too many to eat. With a nice fresh, mildly sweet taste. Not particularly affected by any pests or diseases. It is a complex hybrid of Japanese, Chinese, Siberian, and cherry plums (Prunus cerasifera × salicina × ussuriensis × simonii)

Here we have the 2nd Plum to ripen, its a Mirabelle called Kuban Comet. It was developed in Russia by crossing cherry plum and Chinese plum, often just called a “Russian plum”. A nice balanced, sweet and tart flavour.

Followed by the 3rd ripening plum “Zurna”. A Large fruited hybrid of myrobalan ( Prunus cerasifera ), Japanese plum ( Prunus salicina ), Ussuri plum ( Prunus ussuriensis ), and Chinese plum (Prunus simonii). Very valuable for its high frost resistance and very good resistance to fungal diseases and large in size for early summer.

This is one of the first real plums Prunus domestica (European plum) called “Malling Elizabeth”, but it could have done with another week to produce more sugars. Malling™ Elizabeth® is a modern British plum cultivar bred at the NIAB East Malling Research Centre in Kent. Released in 2022 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee, it’s a premium early-season dessert plum with strong ties to the popular Victoria variety.

Not produced many fruits this year, but it is a very young tree. So in the future, it should bear heavily, which should be thinned to develop larger fruit.

The Calypso or Kalipso is a modern European plum cultivar prized for its early ripening, vibrant colour, and excellent flavour. It’s gaining popularity in the UK for both home gardens and commercial orchards. Originated in Poland and it is a cross between Opal and Lepotika. It consistently crops heavily every year.

Certainly! The Mirabelle ‘Countess’ is a modern cherry plum hybrid (Prunus × cerasifera) developed in Ukraine around 1950, now gaining popularity in the UK for its ornamental beauty and dual-purpose fruit. Considering ours was planted in 2023, it produces heavily and consistently.

Bred in Ukraine in 2002 by crossing Obilnaya (Siberian plum) with Gibrid 2 (apricot). Could do with another week or two to bring out its flavour and sweetness, and for the red skin to change to dark purple and black. Been growing this from 2016, and is a consistent and heavy cropper. So much so they hang like grapes.