Shropshire Prune
The traditional damson: small, intensely flavoured, on a hardy tree that tolerates wind and poor soil. GrowingHQ has not recorded a flowering group for it, so the checker will say so rather than assume one — it does not matter, since the cultivar is self-fertile.
A cultivar of Plum. Everything on this page is about the cultivar; how to grow the species is on the plant page, and how big the tree gets is on the rootstock page.
Names and origin
- Also sold as
- Prune Damson
Pollination
What this cultivar needs before it will set a crop.
- Self-fertility
- Self-fertile
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partner
- No partner needed
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum pollination
Checked 2026-08-13
- Ploidy
- diploid
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- NIAB — National Institute of Agricultural Botany: Cultivar ploidy records
Checked 2026-08-13
- Partners needed
- none
Partners for Shropshire Prune, from the 11 plum cultivars GrowingHQ holds
Computed by the pollination engine from the flowering groups, ploidy and recorded pairings on each record — not a hand-written list. The scope is exactly what the heading says: these are the answers that exist in this catalogue, not the answers that exist.
No partner is required
Shropshire Prune sets a crop on its own pollen. The table below is still computed, because a compatible neighbour does no harm and a grower planting two trees may want to know which pairs work.
No compatible partner in this catalogue
That is a statement about GrowingHQ’s coverage rather than about the cultivar. A nursery list will contain compatible cultivars this catalogue does not hold — the pollination mechanisms page explains how to work one out.
10 further cultivars return no verdict, because a flowering group or an incompatibility group is not recorded on one side. The engine reports that rather than assuming a value: Blue Tit, Cambridge Gage, Czar, Jubilee, Marjorie's Seedling, Merryweather Damson, Opal, Oullins Gage, Pershore, Victoria.
The fruit
- Season
- Late
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum cultivars — season
Checked 2026-08-13
- Use
- Cooking, Preserving, Drying
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum cultivars — use
Checked 2026-08-13
- Keeping
- Eat within days
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum cultivars — storage
Checked 2026-08-13
The plant
- Vigour
- Less vigorous than average
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum cultivars — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13
- Habit
- Upright
source
Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum cultivars — habit
Checked 2026-08-13
- Cropping
- Crops regularly
source
Sourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Plum cultivars — cropping
Checked 2026-08-13
On each rootstock
The size of the tree comes from the rootstock. What the cultivar contributes is a direction, in words — GrowingHQ does not multiply the range by a vigour factor, because no source supports the multiplier and the resulting number would look far more precise than the inputs are.
| Rootstock | Height | With this cultivar |
|---|---|---|
| Pixy | 250–300 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Shropshire Prune is not a vigorous cultivar, and on a dwarfing rootstock the combination can be weak — it will need good soil and freedom from competition. |
| St Julien A | 350–450 cmsourceSourced guidancehigh confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | Shropshire Prune is not a vigorous cultivar, so expect the lower end of this range. |
Full profiles for each of these are on the rootstock page.
Cultivar record reviewed 2026-08-13.