We bought our house three summers ago from an elderly lady who lived here since the 40’s. She told us that one of her greatest joys was a plum bush. Every year she picked a bucket of red plums and made jam. I didn’t find any despite much searching. Finally, I noticed five sticks with a few plum-like leaves barely surviving among thick bushes in an abandoned house next door. It took me much of last summer – and a cool new saw – to cut the thicket around these “sticks”. They began to thrive! Now I am waiting anxiously to see if they begin to bloom and produce the mystery plums.

This plum bush may be prunus americana or prunus nigra (Canadian plum). Both are native to North America and grow even in Saskatchewan. Plum bushes have sharp thorns so are easy to identify.