Florida · Orchard fruit
Typically mid-April to late May, with peak early May through mid-May.
Hatched chalk = early and late shoulders; solid = peak.
A small crop of Gulf-series varieties from north and central Florida, picked in May ahead of everyone else.
From mid-April — first pickings, lighter supply, best prices come later.
early May through mid-May — full stalls, full flavor. This is the stretch to plan around.
Through late May — quantity for preserving, and the stalls start dealing.
about 6 weeks end to end, shoulders included.
Taste one first — varieties swing from candy-sweet to tart-skinned — and pick into shallow buckets. The picking window tracks the band above: early trips get clean fields, peak (early May through mid-May) is the sure bet, late season is for quantity.
Farm-to-farm variation is real — up to two weeks either side of the typical window. Plan the trip, then call the farm before you drive.
Plum peak moves across the map. After this window, it lands next in:
In Florida, the plum season typically runs mid-April to late May, with peak availability early May through mid-May. Exact weeks shift a little with each year's weather.
Aim for peak: early May through mid-May. An early trip around mid-April gets first choice of clean fields; a late one is for jam-and-freezer quantity. Any single farm can run up to two weeks either side of the chart — call before you drive.
about 6 weeks end to end — mid-April to late May. The early and late shoulders are real but lighter; the solid stretch of chalk on the band is the sure bet.