The plum

'Pembina' plum is ovate and pointed, its flesh is yellow, juicy and sweet. Its skin is red with a bluish bloom, acidic and thick. It is a mid to large size plum and it has a good flavor. It is half-freestone, which facilitates a bit the preparation in cooking. 'Pembina' plum is a good choice for dessert, and it is fair for cooking and canning.

The tree

'Pembina' is a hybrid between a japanese plum (Prunus salicina) and a Canadian plum (Prunus nigra). 'Pembina' is generally more productive in alternate years. 'Pembina' is self-sterile, it must be pollinated by a wild plum tree, or a pure American plum tree (Prunus americana), or a pure Canadian plum (Prunus nigra). If not planted near to one of those two wild plum trees, it will not give good yields.

Origin of 'Pembina'

'Pembina' was introduced in 1923 by Niels Ebbesen Hansen from the South Dakota Experimental Station in Brookings. Hansen was born in Denmark and studied apple trees a lot, he has developped in total 350 varieties of fruit, vegetables and trees for the North. He has worked for the USDA and was sent to explore Europe and Asia in the early 1900's.