The cherry plum is covered with blossom in spring and if pollination is successful it produces a crop of edible, sometimes even delicious fruit. It makes a thorny multi-stemmed shrub or small tree which produces root suckers. The branches are shiny, with no hairiness. The abundant white flowers appear either before or together with the leaves. The plums are small, red or yellow.
Several cherry plum varieties are nowadays available in Finland, usually of foreign origin: some have red leaves and flowers for decoration; others have been selected for fruit production. At Mustila the varieties ‘Vetraz’ and ‘Podarok St. Peterburgu’ have been planted for test purposes, both having shown promise in different parts of southern Finland.