The Santa Rosa plum was the most widely grown plum in California until the mid-1970s. The Santa Rosa plum, one of the most popular and widely known plum varieties in America, was named after the northern California city of Santa Rosa where Luther Burbank, the plum’s breeder, settled in 1875 after moving west from Massachusetts. Burbank, who grew up on a farm, began his long plant-­breeding career at the age of 22. He was 26 years old when he sold the rights of his Burbank potato variety for $150 and used the money to move to California, establishing a nursery, […]