Japanese Apricot (Prunus mume):
Prunus mume will grow in all the cooler parts of Australia and on the coast at least as far north as Sydney.
This pretty tree gives a beautiful, perfumed floral display in winter, followed by attractive golden fruit.

Juice
Ume juice is extracted by preserving the fruits in sugar. In China, sour plum juice is made from smoked ume. It ranges from light pinkish orange to purplish black in color and often has a smoky and slightly salty taste. It is traditionally flavoured with sweet osmanthus flowers, and is enjoyed chilled, usually in summer. The juice produced in Japan and Korea, made from green ume, tastes sweet and tangy, and is considered a refreshing drink, also often enjoyed in the summer.

Liquor
Ume liquor, also known as "plum wine", is popular in both Japan and Korea, and is also produced in China.Umeshu, sometimes translated as "plum wine", is a Japanese alcoholic drink made by steeping green ume in shōchū clear liquor). It is sweet and smooth. The taste and aroma of umeshu can appeal to even those people who normally dislike alcohol. A similar liquor in Korea, called maesil ju , is marketed under various brand names. Both the Japanese and Korean varieties of ume liquor are available with whole ume fruits contained in the bottle.

In China, ume wine is called mei jiu.

In Taiwan, a popular post-World War II innovation on Japanese-style umeshu is the wumeijiu, or Wumei liquor, which is made by mixing Prunus mume liquor, Prunus salicina liquor, and Oolong tea liquor.

Umeboshi
Umeboshi, or pickled dried ume, are a Japanese specialty. Flavoured with salt, they are quite salty and sour, and therefore eaten sparingly. They are often red in color when purple shiso (perilla) leaves are used. Ume used for making Umeboshi are harvested in late May or early June, while they are still green, and layered with salt. They are weighed down with a heavy stone (or some more modern implement) until late August. They are then dried in the sun on bamboo mats for several days (they are returned to the salt at night). The flavonoid pigment in shiso leaves gives them their distinctive color and a richer flavor. Umeboshi are generally eaten with rice as part of a bento, although they may also be used in makizushi. Umeboshi are also used as a popular filling for Onigiri, a rice ball wrapped in nori. Makizushi made with ume may be made with either umeboshi or bainiku (umeboshi paste), often in conjunction with green shiso leaves. A by-product of umeboshi production is umeboshi "vinegar", a salty, sour condiment.

In Chinese cuisine, ume that are pickled with vinegar and salt are called suān méizi, and have a similar intensely sour and salty flavor as umeboshi.
A jar of commercially produced suān méizi (pickled mei fruits), made in Hong Kong
Huamei, or Chinese preserved plum, refers to any of a large number of Chinese foods involving plums pickled in sugar, salt, and herbs such as licorice.photo There are two general varieties: a dried variety, and a wet (pickled) variety.
A very similar variety of pickled ume used in Vietnam is called xí muội or ô mai.

Sauce
A thick, sweet Chinese sauce called mei jiang or meizi jiang, usually translated as "plum sauce," is also made from ume, along with other ingredients such as sugar, vinegar, salt, ginger, chili, and garlic. It is used as a condiment for various Chinese dishes, including poultry dishes and egg rolls.

Medicine
In traditional Chinese medicine, the smoked fruits, called wumei, are used for medicinal purposes. They are generally black in color and are claimed by some to be effective against parasites, as well as in stopping ulcers and promoting a strong digestive system and heart.

Cherry Plum/Myrobalan Plum (Prunus cerasifera):
Prunus cerasifera is a species of early-flowering plum known by the common names 'Cherry Plum' and 'Myrobalan Plum'. It is native to Europe and Asia. Wild types are large shrubs or small trees reaching 6-15 metres tall. The flowers are usually white, the small edible fruits yellow or red in colour.

The original species of Prunus cerasifera was available on the retail market throughout the 20th century, but it seems to have disappeared in favour of cultivars which are grown more for the foliage and flowers than the fruits. Cherry Plum is also purpose-grown as rootstock.

Numerous cultivars have been developed, many of them selected for purple foliage, such as 'Atropurpurea'.These purple-foliage forms (often called purple-leaf plum), also have dark purple fruit, which make an attractive, intensely coloured jam. They can have white or pink flowers. The cultivar 'Thundercloud' has bright red foliage which darkens to purple. Others, such as 'Lindsayae', have green foliage. The fruits of the ornamental cultivars are of course edible, however they may be small, sour or bitter.

Riverdene Nurseries in East Gresford, New South Wales, is one of the few nurseries in Australia currently growing Cherry Plum trees specifically for their fruits.

Cherry Plum trees are beautiful and useful. Their blossom is spectacular, their fruits delicious and abundant, and they provide deep shade in summer. Every back yard would benefit from one of these old fashioned fruit trees.

Sloe (Prunus spinosa):
Spiny shrub of English hedgerows. The purple fruits are very bitter but added to gin make a very pleasing traditional liqueur with a beautiful magenta colour - 'sloe gin'.*

The fruits look like tiny plums. They are small, only up to up to 1 to 1 1/2 cm in diamater, and ripens to a bluish-black with a surface bloom. Inside, delicate green flesh surrounds a single large stone.

They are too tart and bitter to eat fresh and are usually made into jellies, syrup, jam and liqueurs. In France, they are sometimes pickled like olives, or the fermented juice is distilled to make 'Eau de vie de prunelle'. 6 kg of fruit are needed to make 1 litre of this very strong drink. Homemade recipes begin with a plain eau de vie, with sloes and sugar syrup added.
The branches of sloe bushes have been used to make walking sticks.

Sloe gin

Where can you buy sloe plants in Australia?
Yamina Rare Plants in Victoria and Woodbridge Fruit Trees in Tasmania.
(HFS has no ties to these nurseries - we are providing this information as a free service to gardeners.)

*Sloe Gin Recipe from Sloebiz
Pick your sloes in April or May when they are ripest - probably after the first frosts.
Take a one litre bottle of gin, and remove half a litre
Cut or prick the sloes and drop into the half-empty bottle so that they displace the remaining gin to near the top.
Add one wine goblet of sugar (approx 150g).
All you have to do now is turn or agitate the bottle daily for a week, then weekly for a month or two ... by which time it will be ready to drink (but it is really best kept until the next winter).

Capulin Cherry (Prunus salicifolia) Also known as Prunus capuli, Prunus serotina subsp. capuli, Prunus capollin, Prunus serotina salicifolia, Padus serotina subsp. capuli, Prunus serotina var. salicifolia)

The Capulin Cherry has many common names. In English - Capuli Cherry, Capulin, Capolin, Black Cherry. In Mexico and Colombia it is called the Capuli, Capoli, Capulin, or Capolin. In other parts of of South America it is called Cerezo, Detse, Detze, Taunday, Jonote, Puan, Palman, or Xengua. In Guatemala it is called the Wild Cherry and in Ecuador, it is known as the Capuli or Black Cherry.



The fruit is eaten raw or stewed, and even preserved whole or made into a jam. For special tamales, Capulin Cherries are used as a filler. With the skin and seeds removed, the fruit can be mixed with milk and served with vanilla and cinnamon as a dessert. The fruit can also be made into an alcoholic beverage by fermenting it. (Wikipedia)


Available from Daleys Nursery and Yamina Rare Plants.