Oak Summit Nursery
Sapa Cherry Plum
Sapa Cherry Plum
Regular price
$15.00 CAD
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$15.00 CAD
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Sapa is an early cold climate cherry plum hybrid selected by Niels Ebbesen Hansen at the South Dakota Experiment Station and introduced in 1908. Its recorded parentage is sand cherry (Prunus besseyi) crossed with Sultan, a Japanese plum (Prunus salicina).
The small fruit has purple skin with a bluish bloom and dark purple flesh. Its sweet tart flavour is well suited to jam and canning. Sapa grows as a large shrub or small tree.
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Growing details
- Hardiness
- Zone 3
- Mature size
- About 10 ft tallA large shrub or small tree
- Fruit
- Small fruit with purple skin, a blue bloom and dark purple fleshSweet and tart, well suited to jam and canning
- Site and soil
- Full sun and soil that drains wellAvoid low spots where frost settles
More about this plant
One of the first cherry plums
Niels Hansen selected Sapa at the South Dakota Experiment Station and introduced it in 1908. It is a cross of sand cherry and the Japanese plum Sultan.
Cold hardinessZone 3 · Canadian maps for this plant
Zone 3 and warmer
The map shows minimum winter hardiness. Soil, moisture and summer warmth also affect how a plant grows.
About these maps
Climate: Natural Resources Canada, 1991–2020. Provincial distribution: VASCAN via retained botanical research. Province outlines: Natural Earth, public domain.
Open Government Licence – CanadaPollination
Sapa needs pollen from another cherry plum. Manor, Opata, Dura and Convoy have all given good results. Sapalta did poorly as a pollen source for Sapa. Western sandcherry and American wild plum may also supply pollen, though neither is a sure thing.
| Plant alongside | What trials found |
|---|---|
| Dura Cherry Plum | Gave a good result as a pollen source for Sapa. |
| Manor Cherry Plum | Gave a good result as a pollen source for Sapa. |
How the cherry plums compare
The cherry plums we grow, side by side.
| Variety | Introduced | Parentage | Fruit | Size | Flavour and use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Compass | 1896. H. Knudson, Minnesota | Sandcherry crossed with a native plum. Accounts differ on which | Dark purple red skin, yellowish flesh | About 1 in | Jelly and canning |
| Sapa | 1908. Niels Hansen, South Dakota Experiment Station | Sandcherry × Sultan Japanese plum | Purple skin with a blue bloom, dark purple flesh | Small, about 1 in | Sweet and tart. Jam and canning |
| Opata | 1908. South Dakota Experiment Station | Sandcherry × Gold Japanese plum | Dark purplish red skin with a blue bloom, green flesh | About 1⅜ in | Sweet with a lively acid note. Preserves |
| Sapalta | 1941. Introduced from Brooks, Alberta | Open pollinated seedling of Sapa | Reddish purple skin, deep purple flesh | Small to medium | Sweet and tart. Fresh, canning and jam |
| Convoy | 1941. Released by Boughen Nurseries, Manitoba | Western sandcherry × Japanese plum | Red skin, yellow flesh | About ¾ to 1¼ in | Sweet and juicy. Fresh, preserves, baking and canning |
| Dura | 1942. Morden Experimental Station, Manitoba | Seedling of Sapa | Dull green skin blotched with purple, red flesh | About 1⅜ in | Canning |
| Manor | 1945. Morden Experimental Station, Manitoba | Seedling of Sapa | Dark purple skin, purplish red flesh | Small, 1 to 1¼ in | Fresh, jam and canning |
| Kappa | 1960. Cecil Patterson, University of Saskatchewan | Sandcherry × Japanese plum | Dark bluish black skin. Sources disagree on the flesh colour | Small | Sweet and fruity. Fresh, jam and canning |
| New Oka | Not recorded | Western sandcherry × Japanese plum | Dark bluish black skin, wine red flesh | About 1.2 in | Highly flavoured. Fresh and preserves |
Years, parentage and introducers are as the nursery has long listed them, and have not all been checked against breeders' records.
Accounts of Compass differ, and its skin colour remains uncertain.
New Oka's colour and size are as Prairie growers describe this group of cherry plums.
Convoy's size is one retailer's figure.