I’ve been reading up on all of the various fruits I can grow in my area (zone 5) and autumn olive seems like an amazing choice. Its a nitrogen fixer, produces 100s if not 1000s of berries that are supposed to be quite tasty (ripens late summer/autumn when all other fruit is finished) and it sounds practically indestructible. I realize its invasive in some regions of the US (which is our own doing) but besides that I can’t figure out why so few people are growing it. Can someone enlighten me?
Thank you
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I have young bushes…so no expert on the subject. But, the ‘food forest’ person in temperate areas could be missing a useful plant for foraging by humans as well as wildlife…but some places are trying to contain the plant’s spread.
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I kind of agree that this plant is not as popular as I would have thought given how great it is. A few downsides: the bush is floppy and usually doesn’t have the most attractive structure in the world, and the fruit is fairly tannic and small. I personally like it, but if I eat more than a handful at a time it leaves my mouth feeling pretty raw and weird. My son likes it a lot and would hang out eating berries off our bush and talking to people on the sidewalk last fall. My wife and daughters don’t care for the fruit though. I think Goumi has better fruit of a similar nature and the bush is not floppy. But I have both and like them.
The foliage is pretty on autumn olive. It has nice tiny flowers in spring too. No sprays, don’t have to fuss with it, etc.
There are many wild ones along the street where my office is which are usually loaded with berries in the fall. I often stop off on my bike ride home to grab a handful to eat on the go.
So two thumbs up from me on autumn olive.
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My friend have several large bushes, she invited us to pick one fall. They huge and need a lot of space. They require female and male to produce, so take even more space. Their berries are tasty, but small and half of it is a hard seed, so it is kind of not easy either eat fresh or cook, may be steam juicing will work.
Thank you for the reply! I didn’t realize it is that tannic. Is the autumn olive you grow a named variety or a wild variety?
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Well ,I am giving them two thumbs down.
I live on a farm in Wv. And am surrounded by autumn olive .
They are very thorny, , like flat tire thorny, grow very fast.spread like crazy, are almost a full time job just to keep them contained. A real problem keeping farm roads clear ,etc.
I have made good wine from them, and appreciate that they fix nitrogen, good wildlife cover, but hard to walk through.
I used to like them…
Not so much anymore !
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I kind of like the tannins, but they are at a level that will turn off people that don’t.
The one I planted in my yard is supposedly a Garnet, from Edible Landscaping. But honestly I don’t notice much difference compared to the seedlings on the road side.
People say this bush is invasive, but around here I don’t think so. I certainly notice them around here and there but not at an excessive level of penetration.
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Man, the highways in Mass are pretty much lined with them, and I see them all over the place in Nashua and in disturbed areas in the woods. Maybe you’re in a lucky low-pressure zone?
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I mean, I do see areas where there are a lot of them. But it seems to me they are not pervasive. Something like multiflora rose or Ailianthus is a lot more widespread and annoying.
Even though I have an autumn olive in my yard, so far I have not had to pick one seedling out as a weed; admittedly my bush is not that old. On the other hand, I have to pull about a million maple seedlings every year.
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Autumn olives are indeed very invasive to certain areas. Where I live, they are THE most invasive and wide-spreading shrub we have (more than multiflora rose, asian bush honeysuckle, or buckthorn). One look out my window and I see hundreds on a hillside forming an impenetrable thicket.
They are awful to try and kill since the roots are thick and go deep and they’ll easily grow back with many suckers if the roots aren’t dug up. Birds will readily spread the seeds. If they have the potential to be invasive in your area, I highly advise against planting or keeping any.
That said, they are pretty looking shrubs that improve the soil and don’t really choke out or inhibit trees from growing like multifloras or buckthorns do. The berries are quite tasty when processed to make a sauce or jam. Too astringent to eat on their own. They ripen August-October here and tend to get infected with SWD, but not as much as most other berries.
Goumi ripens earlier, has better fruit, and would be a much safer pick.
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Yeah I’m not a native purist or anything but I have a hard time making a great argument for Autumn Olive when we have Goumi which is less invasive and just as if not more appetizing.
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Yes, they certainly can be quite thorny! They are pretty variable here as to how thorny they are. Some shrubs I can hardly find any, while others are full of long & thick thorns akin to a hawthorn.
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But don’t yields on Goumi tend to be much much lower? Are goumi seeds edible like autumn olive?
I have autumn olive, goumi, silverberry and an unrelated seaberry. (Russian olive is common here as well).
Goumi’s I like. It fruits heavily for me and I don’t mind the thorns (though it loses them in time). I wish they were rounder. I like the seeds and tolerate the covering enough to eat it.
autumn olive… nice looking plant I have “good” and reportedly self-fertile varieties. I see VERY few berries. They’re good but stingy.
Silverberry has never produced a fruit.
Seaberry is not related in any way. NEEDS full sun. Needs a partner, male/female plants. Tart with barely noticeable seeds. Seriously, it wants FULL sun. Very tasty and sour.
Scott
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Goumi is a smaller plant. Goumi seed is edible.
Not for me. My goumi is much larger than my autumn olives.
Scott
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Goumi reminds me of eating cherry tomatoes with Chili powder sprinkled on them. YUM!
(NOT)
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