@Callimoor is searching for Rubus chamaemorus aka cloud berry. They are looking for a USA seller. I see some seeds out there but no plants. It seems oikos used to carry the plants years ago but i dont recall if that was where i saw them. .
You may find some cultivars from Norway that are improvedā¦but not likely find any wild plants.
Im not that into them but im pretty sure you need a male and a female plant, and it takes like 5 years to flower then that one plant makes one berry.
They are very short and low to the ground and need something like a moss bog or moss covered bedrock area to thrive with constant moisureā¦like near the water.
This would be the end of the rainbow scenario if you wanted cloudberryā¦ very hard to replicate. Pic from an island in Norway.
In the US-
U of KY propagates via seedsā¦ and more info may be found here.
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I had the privilege of going to the Lofoten Archipelago in Norway above the Arctic circle for several weeks, during the summer (thankfully), as my field area for my geology research. I also spent some weeks in several different cities while there for research and conferences, a lovely place and wonderful people who will speak more flawless English than we do and apologize for it, I would recommend people go to visit even over mainland Europe (though it is very expensive)
They are absolutely mad for cloudberries everywhere in Norway, and everyone has an uncleās cabin with a secret patch that they dutifully pick every year. They taste good but I donāt think theyāre better than any other nice flavorful wild berry, just a little different. The flavor stands up well in preserves
Like Kris said the big issue is the very specialized habitat and the long wait for production, I never heard of anyone growing improved varieties or even cultivating them, though I didnāt talk to cloudberry experts or anything, the great rocks were too distracting
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How fabulous! Cloud Berries!!! I have only had the jam, which I loved. Canāt grow them here. So nice to see them growing. They are a Scandinavian berry, similar to Lingonberry, but shaped like a raspberry.
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ā In North America, cloudberries grow wild across Greenland, most of northern Canada, Alaska, northern Minnesota, New Hampshire, Maine, and New York.ā
Who knew? New Hampshire, Maine, and NYā¦
ā The cloudberry grows in bogs, marshes, wet meadows, tundra and elevations of 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) above sea level in Norway, requiring acidic ground (between 3.5 and 5 p H).[2]ā
Interesting. Theres some sort of ecological parity between bogs and alpine areas, with both growing vegetation typical of tundra even though they represent opposite ends of the spectrum moisture wise. Some of that is due to impermeable bedrock holding water making little mini bogs, and the soil is generally peaty and acidic. Often these plants are adapted to both extremes of moisture. Theyāre definitely not going to tolerate competition, but its quite possible that there could be a way to cultivate them. I read a bit about modern cranberry production and how it was developed, and it took some pretty left field ideas to make it work. It might have seemed an unlikely proposition at the time, I imagine. Cranberry is a bog plant too with pretty niche requirements. The big innovations were to bury them in sand and to flood the fields. This stuff was figured out by a handful of guys on Cape Cod in the early 20th century if memory serves
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Want do you want of the Aqpiit {Cloud Berries} my ancestors have picked with the bears for a few thousand yearsā¦lolā¦I can seriously ask my plant growing sister to send me some under the Jay Treaty. Be forewarned Freight/mail cost from remote Labrador is stupid. But if you will tend/disseminate it I will chip in half.
I sent her a note.
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Iām love the cloudberry jam from IKEA
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I find the lack of a famous plant slightly annoying. Try finding a right proper English Roasting Potato. Maris Piper, Charlotte and King Edward potato seed are rare if you can find them in the USA.
All very white, fluffy, floury starchers who roast up that lovely crisp exterior. And breaks into a delectable moist center.
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Thank you!
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I did a little more reading and it looks like folks that try to grow them outside of the wildā¦ can sometimes find that in 7 years or so that they may have too many male plantsā¦also many wild plots can have the same issue.
The four cultivars that have been improved for farmers that i can find are-
āApoltoā and āApollenā (male)
āFjellgullā and āFjordgullā (female).
The wild dense patches are due to rhizomes which have been said to be over 30 feet long. The preferred method if you find a patch you like is to take root cuttings which will produce a clone.
If anyone wants to go further with these cultivars the info i found is here-
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09064710.2011.599330
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they are native here and ive been on the lookout for them the last 6 yrs. ive been to alot of bogs and alpine meadows in Baxter state park and Acadia. ive found wild lingonberries, crowberries and the little swamp raspberries, tons of lowbush blueberries. all are companion plants to cloudberry but never found even 1. tried growing out some seed from Sweden. none sprouted. ive got plenty of its cousins growing. should be happy with that. got plenty of arctic raspberries. 4 cultivars from 2 nurseries. but barely get any berries from them. Iāve come to the conclusion that these northern berries need their native soils/ environments to be completely happy and fruit.
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Well Sis says come the spring thaw she will dig up and send rhizomes.Wild ones from central Labrador. She harvests them from her garden too. So Iām guessing she knows they are Dioecious plants.
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I attempted too. I found someone mentioned on Reddit one nursery sold them and when I contacted them the nursery claimed they stopped selling them because only a few states in the USA could grow them. I bought some seeds from someone on Etsy and froze them in the freezer or put them in the fridge for at least 9 months and suggested and no results. I noticed some plants coming up and asked on here. Someone here mentioned they just would not grow here where I live.
not sure but most of the cloudberry info i have seen says that seeds were dispersed by birds and small creatures. Which means that they need scarified, warm strat, cold stratā¦ If every seed that fell to the ground sprouted they would become overpopulated and harm themselvesā¦so their design is to be carried awayā¦in the stomach of something which scarifies the seedā¦ then laid down in a moist environment during the season (warm strat) then during the cold season (cold strat).
If you have tried all that but with failā¦ alot of seed sellers like to dry out the seeds which often leads to poor germination. as they are never really dry during their natural dispersalā¦ and the ones that do dry out likely do not survive.
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I would have bought plants if given the choice but so few people sell plants if any. From what I heard you have to be somewhere like a Alaska or New York with cool summers and warm winters in addition to a soggy place which is not most of America and many fail at it for that reason too.
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