Orange Revolution is a new selection from the breeder Volodimir Mezhenskiy. It is supposed to be one of the best but extremely hard to get even in Europe. Glory to Ukraine and its breeders!
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Does this plant hybridize with any existing species in North America?
It’s a different genus than any it’s closest relatives native to North America the buffaloberries Shepardia so probably not
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Thanks for your reply. I try to keep it native or will hybridize with native (functionally the same species). With introduced species I worry about potential invasiveness and displacement of native species.
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Food for though: Ability to hybridize with native isn’t necessarily better than simply non-native with no close relation to native species. If a non-native readily hybridizes with native species then it can cause the pure species to be displaced by hybrids. Of course this is just worse case scenario as sometimes hybrids will prefer different habitats from either parent, but still something to add to your thought process. Ability to hybridize does not mean they are functionally the same species. Many species which are functionally quite distinct from each other in terms of morphology, ecosystem roles and environmental preferences are still able to cross with each other when given the opportunity.
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Inunderstand your point but disagree. If two organisms from different areas can produce hybrid offspring, it is just expanding the local genome. The environment and competition will determine whether the extra genetic information confers any benefit in the local context. In some cases, that could be beneficial, such as conferring resistance to indtroduced diseases or insects.
The same can be said for non native species that are in a different genus than any north American ones.
It seems very capricious and intellectually inconsistent to use that as your metric for whether something should be planted or not
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A well-respected grower on Facebook told me that Golden Sweet and Sirola taste like mango and pineapple (I don’t remember which flavor is from which variety), so those and a male are what I ordered from Burnt Ridge this year.
If they grow well for me, I might get Tatiana for its high oil content. I’ve read that the Russian cosmonauts used the oil as a sunscreen. Does anyone else know about topical uses for seaberry oil?
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ive read that they use the oil in makeups.
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I have a few Orange Revolution plants here (southern France) and was able to taste the fruits this year. For me they don’t have any advantage over the latvian varieties which so far are the best growing/producing in my conditions : Sunny (Botanicheskaya Lubitelskaya), Mary (Marija Bruvele), Gold Rain (Prozrachnaja). I’ve tested close to 20 varieties so far and those are the best in terms of growth and production, even though I have tried others with better tasting fruits, but that ended up dying or growing poorly. They are crossed between h. rhamnoides rhamnoides and h. rhamnoides mongolica. Mongolica is better tasting, larger fruits, etc, but more susceptible to fungal disease and doesn’t do well with mild/wet winters, so for me the sweet siberian varieties don’t succeed in my conditions. One exception has been Podruga which I’m still trying to decide on, taste is very good and plants have been doing better than all other russian varieties, but it’s definitely not as virogous and hardy as the Latvians. I also have Sirola and another promising variety called Aromatnaya but haven’t tasted the fruits yet, hopefully next year.
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Nice to read of your experiences, What nursery are you purchasing these varieties from?
I don’t have space for the sizes you guys are describing, however I’ve been ever intrigued in growing this plant. As I’m coastal and I’m sure they’d enjoy the soil, the heat here however not so much. One day I’ll get one if I can find a good price, can’t see the almost 50$ for one female plant that will likely succumb to my summer heat. 20-30$ for an experiment I can see letting one live or die for that. I agree with the grafting of a male branch on its east side since we have a lot of eastern wind (mostly swirling, but south southeast is the main direction)
Enjoying reading all of your experiences. As someone mentioned, I think @EliindaUP goji berry phoenix tears is terrible. However I managed to eat a few each year just due to the benefits of the berry. But it’s not palatable at all.
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I’ve purchased from different varieties over the years. To my knowledge one of the only nurseries offering Orange Revolution is Cornusmas.eu.
The Latvian varieties we got directly from a large producer in Latvia (Aust.bio). We are now selling small numbers to customers in France (not Orange Revolution as it is protected) to try and get the fruit better known as the only cultivars traditionally available have only been local or German varieties that aren’t very good taste wise when you compare to russian or hybrids.
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I watched the link above, and on the side, I saw other upcoming videos on the topic of seaberries. I found one that looked rather clever as to how to harvest using an umbrella and a very easy tool which anyone could make…don’t be put off by the tweezers at the beginning; that’s a joke to show how tedious it would be!
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I’ve purchased imported Seaberry juice labeled as Armenian and as Latvian. I preferred the Armenian because I was desiring a flavor both intense and distinct from other fruit flavors. The same Armenian brand has a mix of Seaberry with Peach and it drowns out the uniqueness but tastes more American. I really like the flavor. The grower’s website claims they are harvested wild in the mountains – resembling a “fish tale” about Goji berries.
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I was curious about Sea Berry so I made this table of available cultivars in the U.S. I took the descriptions from OGW, Raintree, and a Perfect Circle Farm. I tried to omit anything that seemed was repeated too much and non specific so take it with a grain of salt. I don’t grow any of these cultivars, I just like going through a table in excel instead of bouncing back and forth between websites. hopefully if you are interested you can take what I’ve started and build off it. I included who is growing which cultivar based on this thread alone.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | E | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cultivar | One Green World | Raintree | Perfect Circle | Notes | Grown by |
| Amber Dawn | x | x | spreading shrub 4-6 feet in height and 6 feet wide. Ripens in early to mid summer. | ||
| Askola | x | x | Vigorous, reaching 10-12 feet high. Deep orange berries ripen in late august. Selected for high Vitamin A and E content. Good for juice and preserves | ||
| Baikal | x | Compact shape | |||
| Baikal Ruby | x | Rare red fruited cultivar coming soon to One Green World | |||
| Big Orange | x | Heavy producer of very large orange berries | |||
| Botanica | x | Large fruited and productive cultivar. More spreading in shape | Fusion_Power | ||
| Botanicheskaya | x | No info. Same as Botanica? | |||
| Caprice | x | Light Acid berries. Eaten fresh or for preserves | |||
| Eva | x | Like Sunny, but with less thorns. Highest recorded Polyphenols | |||
| Frugana | x | Vigorous, productive and upright shrub. Early ripening bright orange-red berries | Fusion_Power | ||
| Gardens Gift | x | x | Dark Orange Fruit. Early Season ripened ready in late august. Juice and preserves | DennisD | |
| Golden Sweet | x | Medium Size shrub. One of the most reliable and a favorite at One Green World | Fusion_Power | ||
| Harvest Moon | x | Fewer Thorns. sweet/tart fruit though mostly tart | |||
| Hergo | x | Most widely planted in German orchards. Ripens late August to early September | |||
| Inya | x | High yields at young age (3 yrs.) of large berries up to a gram. Orange red color. One of the least thorny at One Green World | |||
| Klim’s Prize | x | Compact and upright shrub. fresh eating and juice | |||
| Leikora | x | x | compact 8-10 feet. More Acidic. bright orange berries. Ripen late August to early September. Fruit laden branches have ornamental value as they stay on the branch until heavy frosts. Juice or preserves | ||
| Mary | x | Nearly Thornless. Large Crops, bright orange berries remain firm on the branch. Harvest time 4-6 weeks | Oliduder | ||
| Orange Delight | x | Abundant crops of reddish-orange fruit. | EliindaUP | ||
| Orange Energy | x | x | More Acidic. Very productive. Juice or preserves | EliindaUP | |
| Orange Glow | x | x | Earlier fruiting than Orange Energy. Fruit ripe in August in the PNW | EliindaUP | |
| Radiant | x | Compact - 8 feet tall. | |||
| Russian Orange | x | Vigorous, and productive, medium-size shrub. unusually lush, grayish green foliage | |||
| Siberian Splendor | x | Heavy crops | |||
| Sirola | x | x | x | Assuming same as Shirola at Perfect Circle. Early ripening abundant crops. Less acidic and paired well with a more acidic variety for juice. Also good for fresh eating. Few thorns | Fusion_Power, Oliduder |
| Star of Altai | x | x | upright bush. reddish orange fruit. also known as Chuyskaya. Sweetest seaberry at Raintree Nursery. Still quite tart. Thornless. Natural dwarf growing 5-7 feet | DennisD | |
| Sunny | x | x | for fresh eating, juice and preserves | Oliduder | |
| Tatiana | x | Low Growing. dark orange, light acidic fruit. 2 week harvest time. Few thorns | |||
| Teal Farm | x | Cultivar with a lost tag at teal farm. Heavy producer of orange fruit | |||
| Titan | x | x | A favorite at one green world. Prolific producer of very large berries. One of the few seaberries good for fresh eating raw. Flavor like a tangerine. Grows 10 feet tall and narrow. Dark green foliage with silver undersides. Good for juice and preserves | EliindaUP, DennisD, Fusion_Power | |
| Vitaminaya | x | no info | |||
| Yellow Dwarf | x | Half size of normal plants. Medium fruit sweeter than most other seaberries. Golden yellow when ripe |
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Great list!
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Here I think you wanted notes. They are separated by ripening time, origin, and use (some have brutal thorns nearly absent on others).
Seaberry aka Sea Buckthorn (Elaeagnaceae \ Hippophae rhamnoides)
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Especially demands full sunlight to produce fruit. Dies in 50% shade. Drought tolerant. Tolerates sandy soil. “Dioecious” so a male must pollinate females. 1 Male per 6-8 females. Fixes nitrogen. Spreads via rhizomes (control by mowing) and has potential to be invasive in shade-free, non-forest regions. Russian flavor is usually reviewed superior to German. Fruit tastes like citrus yet grows in Scandinavia.
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Root system is used to stabilize riverbanks. Has been grown in Minneapolis. For large plantings, space 3-5’ in rows 16’ apart. Harvest using homemade curved tweezers forceps with oversized J-shaped tips to hook multiple fruit simultaneously; drag forceps along branches to detach fruits; catch in fine mesh “landing net” or in umbrella hung upside down from a branch on an S-hook, like when harvesting Hawthorne.
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Sour, early ripening (Jul-Aug): Botanica, Frugana (thorny), Garden’s Gift, Radiant, Russian Orange, Titan. Early are usually Russian.
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Sour, late ripening (Sept) generally German varieties: Leikora, Orange Energy. Orange Glow.
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Sweet, Early: Golden Sweet, Sunny, Star of Altai; Mary (Mary is Canadian, new, milder flavor, fruit hangs 4 weeks into mid-Sept in Zone 3). Sweet seaberries have experienced poorer survival in America, but consumers continue to request “fresh eating,” so nurseries provide them.
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Sweet, Late: Sirola (new untested crossbreed in 2024), Siberian Splendor.
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Males: Lord generally pollinates early females. Pollmix generally pollinates late and resembles Leikora female. Canadian nurseries separate males by name.
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For thorny and vigorous hedge: Frugana, (…more TBD).
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In the wild, birds and insects initially shy away from sour varieties. But if bushes carry hanging fruit into winter, then the fruit bletts so taste mellows so birds will eat when less food available.
Growing report:
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I’m no longer gathering any data on sea berry, and I’m no longer interested in growing it. I just shared what I had to try and help others. you have some great info that I’m sure will inform others who are interested in growing it.
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Are any of the sweet ones more viable than the others. Or is it very dependent on area/zone for USA?