Illustration
Mexican Plum
Prunus mexicana
Also called bigtree plum and inch plum
Also comes in pink.
Mexican Plum blooms from April through May.
Months here are Northern Hemisphere months; in the Southern Hemisphere, shift them by six months.
Growing Mexican Plum
Plant it in full sun. It prefers low water. It is hardy in USDA zones 6–8. Expect it to reach about 25 ft tall and 19 ft wide at maturity, in roughly 12 years (a house reading).
Pets
- Not yet checked for pets.
Lists differ and none is complete. If a pet eats a plant and seems unwell, call a veterinarian or a pet poison helpline.
No toxicity note is on file for Mexican Plum. That is not a clearance: check its safety for people and pets before planting.
What was checked
Nine facts were checked against named botanical sources, each recorded beside the sources that carried it: mature height and spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color, the trait tags, and years to mature size, which rests on a recorded house rule where no publisher states one and is marked so. Soil, diseases, pests, toxicity and the plant's own names have not yet been read for this plant, and its trait tags are the ones a feature uses rather than every word a page prints. Each fact above carries its own mark. The planting, spacing and size sections are derived from these checked facts by a fixed rule, not checked separately, and the plant type is the library's own classification.
When to plant Mexican Plum
Plant Mexican Plum in early spring as soon as the soil is workable, or in early fall at least six weeks before your first frost, so roots establish in cool weather. In zone 7, the middle of its hardy zones 6 to 8, spring means March to May and fall means September or October. Once settled, it blooms from April to May.
Month-by-month timing for your zone is on the planting calendar; if you garden near zone 7, the middle of this plant's hardy range, start with zone 7 in March. Derived from the plant's category, zones and bloom months plus typical zone frost dates, not checked separately.
How big does Mexican Plum get?
25 fttall5 ft 7 inan adult19 ftwideSee Mexican Plum in a garden plan: the planner shows it in 3D beside everything else you add, growing toward this size over the years.
How far apart to plant Mexican Plum
Derived from the mature spread above by a fixed rule, not checked separately: spacing is the spread, center to center.
Give Mexican Plum about 19 ft of clear ground in every direction, measured from its center. It is one plant with room around it, not a row, and a raised bed is too small for it.
Add Mexican Plum to a garden plan and the planner draws it at its full width, so you see the spacing before you buy.
Where these facts come from
Mexican Plum's height, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags were checked against 8 published sources on October 25, 2026. Each one is linked below with every fact it carried, which can include a fact this page still marks as not yet checked, because a source carrying a value is not the same as the value being held to the standard. Facts not in that list, and the planting, spacing and size sections, are not covered by these sources.
- Missouri Botanical GardenPlant Finderheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- austintexas.govCity of Austin Watershed Protectionheight, spread, sun, water and bloom months and color
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower CenterUniversity of Texas at Austinheight, sun, water, bloom months and color and trait tags
- mswn.comMountain States Wholesale Nurseryheight, spread, hardiness zones, sun and bloom months and color
- backbonevalleynursery.comBackbone Valley Nurseryheight, spread, sun and bloom months and color
- efloras.orgFlora of North America, eFlorasheight, bloom months and color and trait tags
- texastreeid.tfs.tamu.eduTexas A&M Forest Service, Trees of Texasheight, bloom months and color and trait tags
- Missouri Department of Conservationtrait tags
How the checking works, and what each standard covers, is on the verified plants page.
Where it grows wild
Native to 13 states
United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and 1 more
Recorded growing wild in 465 counties.
Range data from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 4.0, adapted) and USDA PLANTS. How the native range is credited.
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Design a garden with this
Drop this plant onto a 3D plan, see how it fills in, and watch your whole garden bloom across the year.