Prunus salicina 'Methley'
Methley is a popular early-season Japanese-style plum with a light purple skin and dark red flesh.
You can pre-order now for spring 2025
Fill in the form below and we will notify you when Methley plum tree are back in stock.
If you do not hear from us by February you can contact us in June to pre-order for the following spring.
Methley is self-fertile and easy to grow provided you have a warm sheltered situation, and is a good introduction to growing Japanese-style plums.
Methley is potentially a heavy cropper. However, it flowers very early (well before European varieties) and this can put the blossom at risk from frosts or bad weather. For this reason it is best grown in a sheltered location with a warm south-facing aspect. The blossom is more abundant than with European varieties, and this adds some ornamental interest.
Methley is a low-chill variety, and can therefore be grown in climates where temperatures rarely get down to freezing in the winter.
Advice on fruit tree pollination.
Although generally considered a Japanese-style plum, Methley is actually a hybrid of Prunus salicina (the Japanese plum) and Prunus cerasifera (the cherry plum). It was introduced to the USA in the 1920s from South Africa.
