Cultivar 403: Forest Garden

Forest Garden is an early Americana plum with a long prairie era record in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Manitoba. It was reportedly found in the woods near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by Thomas Hare and introduced about 1862 by H. C. Raymond of the Forest Garden nurseries at Council Bluffs, Iowa. South Dakota sources kept it on fruit lists for its earliness and quality. A later nursery catalog called it one of the most extensively grown and generally profitable plums in northwestern orchards. [S3] [S4] [S5]

The fruit was valued as an early native plum of good to very good quality. South Dakota station notes say it ripened around September 1 to 7 from 1902 to 1904, while A. Norby reported ripening as early as August 26 in one season. The fruit was described as sweet. One nursery source called it nearly round, dull yellow, sometimes purplish red, with thin bloom, yellow flesh sometimes reddened near the stone, and a pleasant flavor. Sources differ on size. Station reports call the fruit rather small or not large, while the nursery catalog describes it as large. It was not a good keeper, and multiple sources say the skin cracks badly after rain or in wet seasons. [S3] [S5]

The tree was widely noted for productivity. At Brookings it made a large crop, was called hardy and very productive, and many station trees were heavy bearers. Growers also praised it as early and worth growing. Its main defect was structural. The tree was often weak in the forks, sprawling or open in habit, and liable to split under heavy crops, so pruning back the leaders was advised to make a more compact framework. A. Norby also described it as a rampant grower that splits easily, though it stood drought well. [S3] [S4]

Hardiness evidence is mixed. South Dakota experiment and recommendation sources treated Forest Garden as a useful hardy native plum, recommended it on northern native plum roots, and included it in general planting lists for Minnesota and South Dakota districts. It also fruited in multiple South Dakota reports and appeared repeatedly in orchard and plate records. But other reports were less favorable. One Madison account said it was not sufficiently hardy and that the oldest trees were failing. Correspondence from Manitoba said it and Wyant froze back nearly all new growth each year. Another Manitoba report said young trees were sometimes killed back from the top. [S1] [S3] [S4]

Forest Garden also appears in the record as a stock and orchard management plum, not just a named fruit. It was repeatedly listed for use on northern native plum roots. One South Dakota planting of fifteen trees on sand cherry roots made a strong, well-shaped tree with fruit. Another sand cherry stock source, however, warned against using top heavy trees such as Forest Garden or Odegard on sand cherry roots. Its high productivity, early fruit, and structural weakness help explain why it stayed in trial lists and orchard reports even where hardiness opinions were divided. [S1] [S2] [S3] [S4]

Summary source basis

• S1: A Study of Northwestern Apples
• S2: The Western Sand Cherry
• S3: Plums in South Dakota
• S4: Fruit Culture
• S5: PERENNIALS - The Northwest Nursery Co.

This summary currently draws chiefly from Plums in South Dakota, with 3 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Found in the woods at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by Thomas Hare.”
— ^[1]

“Aseparate local plum tree was said to have fruit almost like Forest Garden, only a trifle smaller.”
— ^[4]

“The fruit is of very good quality.”
— ^[1]

“Many trees at the South Dakota Experiment Station have proven heavy bearers.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

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Derived or downstream cultivar links

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Source-story quotations

• trees of Forest Garden on own roots and on native plum roots are larger in tree and of rather open habit.Plums in South Dakota, p19
• FOREST GARDEN—Fruit large, nearly round, dull yellow, sometimes purplish red with thin bloom.PERENNIALS - The Northwest Nursery Co., p17
• FOREST GARDEN—Fruit large, nearly round, dull yellow, sometimes purplish red with thin bloom.PERENNIALS - The Northwest Nursery Co., p17
• trees of Forest Garden on own roots and on native plum roots are larger in tree and of rather open habit.Plums in South Dakota, p19

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context