I notice a gardenia like smell any time I walk by goumi in bloom if it’s warm weather. Same thing for their cousin, the fall/winter blooming silverberry.
1 Like
No apology needed - just realized my comment about the heavenly scent was on the other Goumi thread: Goumi—am I missing out? - #38 by Gkight
I would’ve agreed with you and assumed “fragrant” would always be positive. Some smells don’t illicit unanimous opinions, though. Some of my fig bushes have a “cat pee” odor which I find distinctly unpleasant, but my wife can’t smell it at all (thankfully). Fortunately they’re all outside.
@Chills very interesting that none of you smell Elaeagnus flowers - in the evenings when they’re at their peak I can smell my goumi bushes from 100 ft away, but in the middle of the day they hardly smell at all.
2 Likes
Marketing-- it’s a tricky business! I’ll tell you, though, it has caused me to check other sources about details listed in the descriptions of plants where there isn’t a vested interest in selling.
Ughh…my figs smell to high heaven! I always forget until I’m in the general vicinity, picking strawberries and the like. Yuck. Not quite as bad as cat pee, but close. I wonder if they’re related to salvia…another cat pee plant! Pretty, but nothing I’d put in a bouquet!
Back to goumi, I wonder if they emit a fragrance at that time to entice more night-flying insects like moths. Nature is a wonder!
2 Likes
Goumi smell is very nice. It caught me by surprise one spring, I wasn’t sure where it was coming from until I narrowed in.
I had the opposite, or is it complementary, experience with kaki. They stink. I think its the foliage. I’ve never tried kaki leaf tea, but I’m curious if its meant to be funky. Totally different smell, but maybe its something like sage, which also doesn’t smell especially appetizing to me but works very well in food.
1 Like
Inbreeding in Goumies
I recently learned something that I was already aware of: excessive inbreeding poses a serious problem.
This is my sixth year of breeding and selecting Elaeagnus multiflora. Last year, for the first time, I could harvest seeds from a seedling where its own mother acted as the pollenizer—and vice versa. However, I found that E. multiflora seeds with this level of inbreeding simply fail to germinate.
18 Likes
Has anyone compared the size of Wang Bo goumi to Gigantea (Daiougoumi) ?
2 Likes
I did get the Sunrise Ruby
3 Likes
I haven’t heard mine was canceled. So Im hoping to get mine also.
3 Likes
I’m glad you were able to get it! I look forward to hearing how it does for you.
1 Like
I’ve grown Sweet Scarlet for years and while it’s generally considered small, it has always been larger then Red Gem for me.
3 Likes
Red Gem is the smallest named cultivar I am aware of. Sweet Scarlet is just slightly larger. Pippi is just slightly smaller than Wang Bo and Daigoumi/Gigantea is the largest.
7 Likes
Red Gem is the best tasting goumi I’ve tried. But I’ve only had it, Sweet Scarlet, Carmine, and whatever is growing at the formerly Home Orchard Society arboretum.
4 Likes
My red gem berries seem to be larger than sweet scarlet in my area on Long Island! Interesting… I wonder if it was mislabeled!
1 Like
I should say that I don’t remember the names well. Those are the 3 I have, and the smallest one that also ripens first is the best tasting.
Ironically its the one I’m going to rip out. That’s because its too close to my persimmon tree and wants to be bigger than it.
2 Likes
It should take heavy pruning well, and pruning is where it releases the most nitrogen for what is around it. I suspect it would even transplant well.
2 Likes
Yeah, I’d meant to transplant it into a space I don’t care about and just see what happens. I still may. But I’m also planning to just yank it out with the tractor so I’ll see how messy it is.
It can take heavy pruning, but will grow back with a vengeance.
4 Likes
Will Goumi seeds germinate after a simple cold stratification similar to E. umbellata, or do they, like some other summer ripening fruits need a warm-cold stratification or they will need another year to germinate?
I’ve had decent germination so far with cold only. The biggest thing is they don’t seem to like drying out.
2- 3 months of stratification + never let them dry out. as well protect the seedliungs from late frosts
Oh, I am understanding correctly, you harvest around july, cold stratify for 3 months until october, and then they will germinate in fall of the same year? I always assumed most fruit seeds will not germinate before next spring.