Oullins Gage plum tree

Prunus domestica 'Oullins Gage'

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• Gardening skill: Beginner
• Picking season: Mid mid-August
• Self-fertility: Self-fertile
• Pollination group: 4

A French gage with the classic gage-like flavor. Rated by the noted Victorian writer Hogg as having "exquisite flavour and handsome appearance".

The fruit is large by gage standards - more like a small plum, with a semi-clinging stone. It is a particularly attractive golden colour, with faint red dots - very pretty in a fruit bowl.

Oullins Gage is equally good for fresh or culinary use. Eaten fresh, the flesh is sweet and gage-like - and far better than most shop-bought plums. For culinary use, pick slightly early when it is still firm. The flavour of Oullins Gage is also fairly consistent between seasons.

Oullins Gage plum trees for sale

• Full-size 1-year bare-root tree $37.95
  Mature height: 16ft-24ft after 10 years
  Vigorous rootstock
  

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How to grow

Compared to most gages, Oullins Gage is easy to grow.

Oullins Gage has a tendency to be slow to come into bearing, and if left to its own devices it is not unusual for the tree to be 4-5 years old before it begins fruiting. The fruit is certainly worth the wait, but you can also take steps to speed things up a bit! One of the reasons for the delay in fruiting is its growth habit, which is vigorous and upright - it may help to gently tie down new side branches to give a more open appearance, and this will also encourage earlier fruiting. Similarly, once the tree has clearly established itself in your garden, be wary of over-feeding it, as it will respond by growing even more - rather than fruiting.

Oullins Gage is also a good pollinator for other mid- or late-flowering plums and gages.

Advice on fruit tree pollination.

History

The ancestry of Oullins Gage is not known, but it originates from the town of Oullins in south-east France, where it was first sold by a local nurseryman in the 1860s.

Oullins Gage characteristics

• Gardening skillBeginner
• Self-fertilitySelf-fertile
• Pollination group4
• Pollinating othersGood
• Picking seasonMid - mid-August
• UsesEating freshCulinary
• Keeping (of fruit)1 week
• CankerSome resistance
• Summer maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)
• Country of originFrance
• Period of origin1850 - 1899
• Fruit colorYellow