Fruit · Rosaceae
When to plant damsons
A small, sharp, thick-skinned plum that shrugs off cold and wind well enough to be planted as a hedge in places where a dessert plum would be miserable.
First worthwhile crop
Year 3
After planting, not after sowing.
Hardy in USDA zones
4a to 8b
Winter cold sets the limit here, not the calendar.
Frost tolerance
Very hardy
How much cold the plant itself will take.
Those weeks become real dates once you name a place.
Timing, in frost-relative terms
Nothing about a standing crop is sown to a calendar. Once planted, damsons stay in the ground for years, so the question is not when to sow but whether your winter is survivable and your planting window is open. Both answers come from your frost dates.
- Expect a first worthwhile crop in year 3 after planting.
- Needs roughly 700 chill hours below 7.2°C (45°F)45°F (7.2°C) over winter to set fruit, which rules out the warmest climates.
- Hardy in USDA zones 4a–8b.
Frost tolerance
Tougher in flower than a dessert plum, and later to bloom, which together make it the plum of choice in exposed or frost-prone gardens.
Classified as very-hardy.