Low-Chill Plum Varieties: the Chill-Hour Table
Plums split into two camps: European types (Stanley, Italian Prune) that want 700+ hours of winter chill, and Japanese types that get by on far less — which is why nearly every plum that succeeds in the warm-winter South and low-desert West is a Japanese variety. Without enough chill a plum blooms in fits over weeks, most flowers abort, and the tree slowly runs down.
The 7 varieties here all fruit on ~500 hours or less, down to Gulf Beauty at about 250. One warning the catalogs bury: most Japanese plums are NOT self-fertile. Methley is the standout exception — self-fertile and just 250 hours — and it pollinates most of the others on this list; the Gulf series bred for Florida wants a second Gulf variety nearby. The table sorts by chill requirement, and the self-fertile column tells you whether one tree is enough.
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| Variety | Chill hrs | Self-fertile | Ripens | Zones | Notes | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf Beauty | 200–250 | No | Early-mid May | 8-9 | sweet red-blushed yellow flesh, early ripeningUniversity of Florida low-chill selection bred for the Deep South and disease pressure; plant a second Gulf-series tree for pollination. | Browse growers |
| Gulfblaze | 250 | No | Mid-May | 8-9 | sweet red Japanese-type plum — University of Florida low-chill release with a 95-day fruit development period, ripening mid-May in north-central Florida.Not self-fruitful - plant it with another Gulf variety. | Browse growers |
| Methley | 150–250 | Yes | June-July | 5-9 | sweet juicy red — Self-fertile low-chill Japanese plum | Buy from $68.95 |
| Gulfrose | 275 | No | Late May | 8-9 | sweet red-skinned Japanese-type plumThe latest of the Gulf series at about 275 chill hours and a 95-day fruit development period, extending the Florida plum season into late May. Its weaker plum leaf scald tolerance is the trade for that later date. | Browse growers |
| Santa Rosa | 300–500 | Partial | Late June-July | 5-9 | juicy, sweet-tart crimson-skinned amber flesh, the benchmark fresh plumThe most popular Japanese plum: partially self-fruitful with moderate chill, adaptable from California to the mid-Atlantic. | Buy from $57.95 |
| Satsuma | 300–500 | No | July-Aug | 6-9 | dark red 'blood' flesh, sweet and rich, excellent for jam and freshDeep red-fleshed blood plum with rich flavor, but it sets almost nothing without a compatible pollinizer. | Buy from $60.95 |
| Shiro | 400–500 | Partial | July | 5-9 | translucent yellow, very juicy and mild-sweet — Reliable early yellow plum that crops heavily, but plant a compatible pollinizer for dependable fruit. | Browse growers |