Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Sea Berry, Russian Sandthorn

Description:

This excellent large upright shrub features fine gray-green foliage all season; abundant and large, bright orange berries in late summer are great for tasty and healthy juice or preserves; extremely tolerant of dry, alkaline soils and coastal conditions

Edible Qualities

Russian Orange™ Sea Buckthorn is a large shrub that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces orange oval berries with yellow overtones which are typically harvested when mature. The berries have a tart taste and a juicy texture.

The berries are most often used in the following ways:

• Preserves
• Juice-Making

Features & Attributes

Russian Orange™ Sea Buckthorn has attractive grayish green deciduous foliage which emerges silver in spring on a plant with an upright spreading habit of growth. The narrow leaves are highly ornamental but do not develop any appreciable fall colour. It features an abundance of magnificent orange berries with yellow overtones from late summer to late winter.

This is an open multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage. This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Suckering
• Spiny

Aside from its primary use as an edible, Russian Orange™ Sea Buckthorn is sutiable for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Russian Orange™ Sea Buckthorn will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 2 feet from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 50 years or more. This is a female variety of the species which requires a male selection of the same species growing nearby in order to set fruit.

This shrub is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated edibles garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for clay, alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.