3 Year old Seabuckthorn Plant
I just love seabuckthorn, despite the “thorn” part of it. Last spring I ordered 2 Seabuckthorn plants from a nursery in Oregon. During the summer months, they were looking good.
By September, both plants were losing leaves and the male plant was history. But the female plant was still branching out on the side. For what is suppose to be resilient plants, they sure are difficult to grow.
Anyway the female plant didn’t look so well as the leaves eventually fell off. But I still had hope. And to my surprise, this spring it is full of leaves! Now I can say this is my 3 year old seabuckthorn plant.
I didn’t plan to get anymore plants because they were expensive, about $20 for each plant plus shipping of $18.95. Then I saw Gurney’s had some Seabuckthorn for the same price. Female plant $19.99 and 3 male plants $19.99. But their shipping price was way more reasonable.
The plants all arrived nicely packaged. But they looked more like twigs with buds. I guess they call it “dormant” plants. I’ll probably be keeping them all in the containers until they get big enough to put in the ground.
Another way to get rare fruits is to join the California Rare Fruit Association. Membership is $41 per year and includes a color magazine, tastings, garden tours, free grafting and pruning classes. They usually have annual plant sales too. I really don’t have the time or space right now. Maybe in my golden days.
The female Twiggy Seabuckthorn.
Growing from cutting note from seabuckthorn.co.uk
-Hard wood cuttings taken in winter can increase stock of the shrubs.
-Bundles of cuttings are soaked in water and covering 2/3 of their length until the beginning of formation of roots.
-Cuttings can also be treated with rooting hormone and placed in pots filled with peat in a bottom heated propagation box. Cuttings can be transplanted when the roots are 1-2 cm long directly to the field.
-‘Softwood cutting (15-20cm long) are taken when shoots begin to become woody, remove the lower leaves, leaving 2-4 leaves at the tip and dip into rooting hormone before rooted in media such as sand or perlite and keep special attention to the moisture of media.’
9:13 pm on March 29th, 2012
I’m glad she survived the winter and it looks like she has gotten a lot taller this year. Do you not need another male now since you have 2 females?
I think I would enjoy joining the California Rare Fruit Association, and only if I lived close by. The garden tour sounds wonderful.
10:56 pm on April 3rd, 2012
Since the female have done well here, I’m starting to think female plants are much tougher than male plants.
I got 4 plants from Gurney. They had a great price on the male seabuckthorn, 3 for $20. But they were like sticks and not as big as from the Oregon nursery. But it was a freebie so I can’t complain.
I think you’ll enjoy CRFA. They are the nice folks behind the International Fruit Orchard in San Jose - home to 2 large seabuckthorn plants.
12:41 am on July 1st, 2013
[...] I love seabuckthorn that much and even have my own little plant. It’s gotten a bit bigger now, but no seeds [...]