Unusual weather conditions this year have cut the plum season short by a month, with growers complaining they have had favourable growing conditions, but not in the right order.
Cold, damp weather in early May resulted in fewer blossoms, leading to a smaller harvest, and the hot weather followed by a spell of rain has caused many of the plums to swell and split.
'We've had all the right weather, just not in the right order,' said Gary Farmer from Vale Landscape Heritage Trust, a charity that revitalises old orchards in theValeof Evesham, Worcestershire.
'Instead of an ongoing crop of different varieties at different times of the summer, all of them seem to have popped ‘en masse' in August and this weekend will see the plum season coming to an end a month early.'
He added: 'Plums are a temperamental fruit, which might be one reason their popularity had dwindled. What's more, weather conditions have fluctuated over the last few years, which means neither the trees, the pollinators nor the growers know how to adapt.'
The August Bank Holiday weekend sees the grand finale of the Pershore Plum Festival, with three days of food and plum-based entertainment from 25-27August.
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