Plum 'Mirabelle de Nancy'

Where to Plant
Choose a sunny, sheltered position with fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil. Plenty of sun will help the fruits develop their sweetness, while a sheltered position can help protect the spring blossom from cold winds and frost. Avoid sites that become waterlogged.

Planting Your Bare-Root Tree
Plant while the tree is dormant, avoiding periods when the ground is frozen or waterlogged. Unpack promptly and soak the roots in a bucket of water for around 30 minutes before planting. Dig a hole wide enough for the roots to spread naturally without bending or crowding them.

Position the tree at the same depth it was previously growing, using the soil mark on the stem as a guide and keeping the graft union above soil level. Spread the roots naturally, backfill with soil, gently firm and water thoroughly. Stake the tree if needed to keep it secure while the roots establish.

Watering & Feeding
Water regularly during the first growing season and during prolonged dry spells. Consistent moisture is particularly important while the fruits are developing. Feed in spring with a suitable fruit tree fertiliser and mulch around the base with well-rotted compost or organic matter, keeping the mulch clear of the trunk.

Pruning
Mirabelles are best pruned during spring or summer rather than during the dormant winter period. Remove dead, damaged, diseased, crossing or badly positioned branches and maintain an open, well-balanced framework. Pruning while the tree is actively growing helps reduce the risk of silver leaf disease.

Do I Need Another Plum Tree?
No. 'Mirabelle de Nancy' is self-fertile and can produce fruit when grown on its own. However, another compatible plum, damson or mirabelle flowering at around the same time can help improve pollination and cropping.

Choosing a Pollination Partner
If you'd like to grow a pollination partner, choose a compatible plum, damson or mirabelle with an overlapping flowering period. Pollination group numbering varies between growers, so flowering at the same time is more important than relying on a particular group number.

Spring Blossom
White flowers appear in spring before the fruits begin to develop. The blossom attracts bees and other pollinating insects, which help with fruit set. Although the tree itself is hardy, early blossom can be vulnerable to cold spring weather.

Developing Fruit
Small, rounded fruits develop through summer, ripening to golden yellow and often developing small red speckles or a slight blush. Once fully ripe, the flesh becomes beautifully sweet and juicy.

Top Tip:
A sheltered position can make a real difference with mirabelles. Protecting the early blossom from cold winds and late frosts gives it the best chance of developing into a good summer crop.

When to Harvest
'Mirabelle de Nancy' generally ripens around mid-August, although the exact timing will vary with the season and where you garden.

How to Tell When Mirabelles Are Ready
Look for fruits that have developed their characteristic golden-yellow colour, often with small red speckles or a slight blush. Fully ripe fruits become wonderfully sweet and juicy and should come away from the tree readily.

How to Pick
Handle ripe mirabelles gently as the small fruits can bruise easily. Cup each fruit in your hand and lift it carefully from the branch rather than pulling or squeezing it.

Enjoying Your Harvest
Mirabelles are particularly good eaten fully ripe and fresh from the tree. Use ripe fruits promptly or turn a larger harvest into jams, preserves, compotes and puddings. Surplus fruit can also be frozen for cooking later.

Top Tip:
Taste a fruit before picking the whole crop. Their colour is a useful guide, but that distinctive rich sweetness is the best indication that your mirabelles are ready.

Fresh from the Tree
Allow your mirabelles to ripen fully and they're delicious eaten just as they are, with sweet, juicy flesh and a rich flavour that belies their small size.

Jams & Preserves
'Mirabelle de Nancy' is particularly prized for preserving. The sweet golden fruits make excellent jams and preserves, capturing their distinctive flavour to enjoy long after harvest.

Tarts & Puddings
Use your harvest in French-style fruit tarts, crumbles and cakes, or gently cook the fruits into a compote to serve with yoghurt, cream or ice cream.

Easy to Prepare
The fruits are freestone, which means the flesh separates readily from the stone when ripe – particularly handy when you're preparing a larger harvest for cooking or preserving.

Top Tip:
Taste your mirabelles before adding lots of sugar to jams or puddings. Fully ripe fruits can be naturally very sweet.

Bare-Root Trees
Your tree is supplied bare root while dormant, without a pot or compost around its roots. It will usually arrive with a woody stem and branches but little or no foliage. This is completely normal and fresh growth will begin as the tree comes out of dormancy in spring.

On Arrival
Unpack your tree promptly and don't allow the roots to dry out. If you can't plant immediately, keep the roots moist and the tree somewhere cool and sheltered until you're ready to plant.

Grafted Fruit Trees
'Mirabelle de Nancy' is grafted, combining the fruiting variety with a rootstock that helps determine how strongly the tree grows. You'll usually be able to see the graft union towards the base of the stem. Keep this above soil level when planting.

St Julien A Rootstock
Your tree is grafted onto St Julien A rootstock, a semi-vigorous rootstock commonly used for plums, gages and mirabelles. It produces a medium-sized garden tree, although eventual size will depend on growing conditions and how the tree is trained and pruned.

What to Expect After Planting
Your young tree won't look like a mature fruit tree straight away. It will spend its early years establishing its roots and developing a framework of branches. 'Mirabelle de Nancy' can be slower to begin cropping than some plum varieties, so give your young tree time to establish.