Mayday Cherry vs Opata Cherry Plum - TreeTime.ca

Mayday Cherry vs Opata Cherry Plum

Prunus besseyi x salicina Opata

Prunus padus

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Opata Cherry Plum
Mayday Cherry

Opata Cherry Plum is considered to be one of the best tasting Cherry Plum varieties. It has a pleasant, sweet flavour and a hint of acidity. They ripen in mid to late August and are well suited to fresh eating, baking, and preserves.

The fruit is closer to a plum than a cherry but is smaller than most plums.The Opata Cherry Plum’s skin is red/green whereas the flesh is yellow-green. The flesh is freestone with a juicy, firm texture. Similar to other stone fruits, it does not store for very long.

The Opata Cherry Plum is a hybrid between a Western Sand Cherry and a Japanese (Chinese) Plum. For fruit production, it needs to be planted with another variety for cross-pollination. Canada Plum and American Plum are considered universal pollinizers.

Mayday Cherry is a small deciduous tree known for its early blooming and fragrant white flowers.

A favourite specimen tree on prairie homesteads, Mayday Cherry produces small black berries that are inedible to people but highly desirable to birds.

Opata Cherry Plum Quick Facts

Mayday Cherry Quick Facts

Lowest Price: $15.99 - SAVE UP TO 20%
Zone: 2a
Zone: 3a
Height: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Height: 9 m (30 ft)
Spread: 2.1 m (7 ft)
Spread: 8 m (25 ft)
Light: full sun
Light: full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: medium
Growth rate: medium
Life span: short
Life span: short
Suckering: medium
Suckering: low
Maintenance: medium


Toxicity: seeds and leaves are toxic if ingested
Flowers: early blooming, white
Fruit: skin green and red, flesh yellow-green
Fruit: small black berries
Berries: small black berries
Fruit size: 3 cm in diameter
Flavor: pleasant and sweet, hint of acidity
Harvest: mid to late August
Seeds: located within the berries
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Other Names: opata chum, opata plum cherry
Other Names: common bird cherry, european bird cherry