The folks down at Trees of Antiquity (where the previous owners had purchased the tree) got back to me very quickly with some advice.
1) Old plum trees almost never send up suckers from the roots, and there's no way to force it to happen.
2) Any Asian plum within a half mile of ours will be enough to pollinate the Elephant Heart.
What this means is that I need to accept that we won't get that Marianna rootstock back. On the positive side, that corner of the yard that the branch took up would be the most perfect spot for a small lifted fort or castle for our son (maybe with a sandbox or the quail hutch underneath?), since it would give a view of Mt. Diablo and the neighborhood while still being shaded.
It also means that perhaps we should wait to do anything until next season, to see if the Burgandy (also an Asian plum!) flowers for a longer period. We did get very few Elephant Heart plums, which means that the Burgandy probably did do a tiny bit of pollination.
We could also just try some grafting anyway, for fun. It seems like an awesome skill to have!
In a worst-case scenario, next year I could buy a baby Santa Rosa plum and take it door-to-door until I find someone within a half mile who wants it.
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