Autumn 2024 planting seasonPre-order now for EU delivery December 2024 - March 2025

Coe's Golden Drop gage trees

Prunus domestica
Coe's Golden Drop plums
Coe's Golden Drop is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Very late Late October
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 2

Coe's Golden Drop is a traditional yellow English gage-like plum, with a very good rich sweet gage-like flavour, but some balancing sharpness. It is widely regarded as one of the best-flavoured of all English plums.

The attractive yellow free-stone plums are valuable for both dessert and culinary use. This versatility, combined with its excellent flavour and large size make it a particularly desirable plum tree for the keen fruit grower.

Bio / Organic  fruit trees

Coe's Golden Drop organic gage trees for sale


  • 11 yeartree on St. Julien A rootstock23.25€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out
  • 21 yeartree on Myrobalan rootstock23.25€
    Very large tree (5m-6m+ after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out
  • 3Half-standard (2 years)tree on St. Julien A rootstock34.00€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Collection only - contact us
  • 4Standard (2 years)tree on St. Julien A rootstock49.00€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Collection only - contact us

Contact us if you would like to go on the waiting list for next season.

EU delivery countries
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
Delivery chargesClick here to view estimated delivery charges. We can deliver to most countries in the EU. However our 2-year trees and some pot-grown trees are too big or unsuitable for mail-order and are only available for collection direct from the nursery. Please contact us if you wish to order.

Growing and Training

Coe's Golden Drop is not as easy to grow as most plums. It is quite fussy about its situation - it does best in a sheltered location or trained on a south-facing wall.

The tree is generally healthy and can be quite vigorous on good soils. Cropping is very variable - it is best to assume it will be light, although if the tree likes where you have planted it then cropping can be very good. Pollination is important for best results with this variety - it is not self-fertile so make sure you have a couple of other (different) European plum varieties growing nearby. 

This is essentially a variety for the plum enthusiast, who will, in a good year, be rewarded with perhaps the most refined of English plums.


History

Coe's Golden Drop was raised by Jervaise Coe, a market gardener from Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, at the end of the 18th century. Mr Coe stated that it was seedling tree, most likely from an Old Green Gage stone pollinated by a White Magnum Bonum plum tree growing nearby.


Coe's Golden Drop characteristics

  • Gardening skillExperienced
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group2
  • Disease resistanceAverage
  • Picking seasonVery late - Late October
  • Season of use1 week - Keeps fresh in a fridge longer than most plums.
  • Food usesEating freshCulinary
  • Summer average maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)
  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1800 - 1849
  • Fruit colourYellow

Similar varieties

  • See also Count Althann's Gage
    Count Althann's Gage
    Count Althann's Gage has a richer and more plum-like flavour than other gages.
  • See also Mirabelle de Nancy
    Mirabelle de Nancy
    Mirabelle de Nancy is a traditional Mirabelle, originating from north-east France.
  • See also Reine Claude Doree
    Reine Claude Doree
    A high-quality yellow-green gage, and usually more productive than other green gages.