Skip to main content
Problems with signing in?

We use your email to save the items in your cart, and occasionally send notifications about your cart contents. We will never sell your email address.

Black Ice Hybrid Plum

bare-root trees
Choose an item size to add to your cart.
$39.00
Item: 7420-A
stock details: 3–6' bare-root trees
Prunus spp.
Midsummer, purple-black skin, purplish red flesh.

P. Lydecker [Prunus besseyi × (P. salicina Oka × P. s. Z’s Blue Giant)] University of Wisconsin, River Falls, 2006.

Large 2" round early-ripening high-quality hardy blue-black dessert plum. Very sweet juicy reddish-purple semi-freestone flesh. Precocious and productive tree with a naturally compact growth habit.

Bred by Brian Smith, whom we visited on a fruit exploration trip in the Upper Midwest. He graciously showed us around his amazing nursery in River Falls, Wisconsin. He was growing many of his plums in huge tubs, manipulating bloom time using greenhouses and coolers. This enabled him to cross species or varieties that would never normally flower together. 

Requires at least one other variety for pollination. Toka or La Crescent are great pollinators for this variety. Zone 3.

ships in spring
Quick Details
Harvest Season
midsummer
Skin Color
purple-black
Flesh Color
purplish red
Hardy to Zone
3
Compare
Compare with other Hybrid Plums
Variety Product Type Harvest Season Skin Color Flesh Color Hardy to Zone
Black Ice bare-root trees midsummer purple-black purplish red 3
Cocheco bare-root trees midsummer red-orange dark pinkish red 4
Ember bare-root trees late summer red yellow 3
Gracious bare-root trees late summer coral red yellow-orange 3
Kahinta bare-root trees mid-late summer red-purple yellow-orange 3
La Crescent bare-root trees late summer yellow yellow 3
Lavina bare-root trees mid-late summer red-blushed yellow amber 4
Obilinya bare-root trees midsummer purplish red orange 4
Pembina bare-root trees early summer bright red dark golden orange 3
Pipestone bare-root trees late summer deep red yellow 3
Purple Heart bare-root trees late summer red-purple red-purple 4
Tecumseh bare-root trees midsummer bright red yellow 3
Toka bare-root trees late summer rosy purplish red yellow 3
Underwood bare-root trees midsummer dull red golden yellow 3
Waneta bare-root trees midsummer reddish maroon orange 3
Shiro bare-root trees midsummer light yellow light yellow 5
Additional Information

Hybrid Plums Prunus spp.

Extremely hardy crosses between various Asian and American species; may fruit even after severe winters.

Hybrid plum fruiting can be inconsistent but it’s worth the trouble! Warmer areas will see longer bloom times. Cold late springs may force blooming all at once. Both of these conditions can be optimal for plum crops. At other times, it can be a little hit or miss. Bloom times are similar for all the varieties we offer.

Hybrid plums are less susceptible to black knot than European plums and have few issues other than Japanese beetle and plum curculio attraction.

At maturity, hybrid plums are roughly 15–20' tall.

Growing Hybrid Plums

  • Soil: Prefers well-drained fertile soil.
  • Sun: Full.
  • Pollination: Requires a second variety. We recommend planting at least 4 different varieties close together. Including an American Plum Seedling in your grove can help ensure pollination.
  • Planting: See our planning and planting and pests and diseases pages for more information about soil prep, planting, and pest control.
  • Spacing: 15–20' apart, or closer for a thicket.

Shipping

Items from our perennial plants warehouse ship from early March through mid-to-late May, weather depending, beginning with warmer USDA zones.