Budenovka, Altai strain

[Tania]

some of you asked me about this variety in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I'd post it here

I received the seeds from two sources in 2005 - one is from the original commercial package from Ukraine, and the other is from Tamara Yaschenko, a Russian seedswoman from Biysk, Altai.

I grew both, and they are slightly different, so I am tempted to call the 2nd one 'Budenovka, Altai strain'. The Altai strain is a bit wispier, more compact, and much earlier, I picked two fruits (see pictures below), but I am still waiting for the other one to ripen. It also seems to have larger fruits.

SSE Yearbook has one listing of Budenovka, but the description doesn't much what I have -

MA JO C - HAS - red plum, susceptible to blight, did not do well for me, from IA SSE HF 04

This is the description I got from Tamara:

60-65 cm high bush, pink heart shaped fruits, 300-800 g, for greenhouses and open ground

This definitely describes what I have, and here are the pictures taken at different dates

July 6:


July 14:


July 29


July 30:


Aug 01:


The fruit is pink, and the taste is not bad at all - I am waiting for the other Budenovka to ripen to compare the taste and color