Nothing signals the turn to fall and winter quite like a branch of bright red, orange, or purple berries. Berried and other fruiting branches also offer tremendous value to consumers with an exceptionally long vase life, typically measured in weeks instead of days.
Yet florists have not always been eager to explore the potential of fruiting branches. They do require a little shifting of gears when it comes to care and handling. One complaint is fruit “abscission,” or berry drop; another is softening of the fruit. Both of these are typical symptoms of ethylene damage. In the flower shop, the keys to prevention are simple: Maintain cool temperatures and good air circulation. (Also, it is not a good idea to cover fruiting branches with plastic or store them in high-humidity areas, which can encourage the development of botrytis mold.)
However, the real insurance against berry drop begins with the grower, says Shlomo Danieli, who raises nine different types of ornamental berries on his Wisconsin farm, Blooming of Beloit. “If the plant was not irrigated the day before, it’s guaranteed the berry will fall,” says Shlomo. “It will drop when it’s under stress from lack of water. But when berry plants have been well irrigated, the cut branches last for weeks.”
Bright bittersweet
Not all the ornamental berries on the market are grown for cutting; some are gathered from the wild. At The Flower Depot in Tonganoxie, Kansas, Steve LaForge sells two kinds of bittersweet: “The cultivated has a larger berry and a more even form; the wild has extra branching.” With cultivated bittersweet, it’s much easier to separate the branches and combine them with other, sturdier materials like grapevine or honeysuckle for wreaths or garlands.
The Flower Depot starts taking orders in July for bittersweet that is delivered starting in September. Demand is high. While most woody ornamentals should be re-cut every few days and kept in clean water, bittersweet is sold as a fresh material that air-dries and lasts, potentially, from one season to the next. The key to its long life, as with many floral materials, lies in the cut point and the treatment it receives immediately post harvest.
Bittersweet berries are “capsules,” enclosed in an outer sheath. “It should be picked while the berries are still closed,” says Steve. “We’ll take delivery, hang it up and let it start to dry. In about two to three days, the little umbrella opens up, and that’s when we ship it. If it’s picked too green, it won’t open up, and then it goes bad because of the moisture inside the hulls.” Picked too early or too late, the berries may fall. “But once it sets, it sets pretty well,” Steve continues. “When it first comes into us it’s orange and really plump. Then it dries down to a darker red, a bit crinkled.” And that’s the bittersweet that most florists know.
Bittersweet is harvested continually from September through Thanksgiving, mostly in the Midwest and Northeast, though some is grown and gathered as far south as Kansas. The Flower Depot also carries pink pepper berries, and such novelties as chili peppers on the stem and putka pods, which look like miniature pumpkins. Better known, but still unfamiliar to some florists and customers, are rose hips and bone-colored tallow berries. “Once people discover them, they love them,” says Steve.
Growing popularity
Indeed, interest in all kinds of ornamental berried branches has been on the rise. Ornamental berries are one of the few products where domestic production is not likely to be threatened by imports. One reason is USDA restrictions: berries carry a higher risk of transporting pests and disease across borders. You can’t really test a shipment for infection without cutting into the fruit, which spoils it. Berried branches are also heavy, bulky, and long-lived—all of which gives a leg up to domestic freight over international shipping.
The disadvantage for berry growers is that ornamental berries are a long-term investment. You have to care for the plants for at least four years before you see the first harvest. But then, if you hit the nail on the head and your product is popular, you’re ahead of your competition by a few years.
Successful growers buy their stock from Europe, where varieties are bred for the cut-flower market with an emphasis on vase life and disease resistance. Pruning of woody ornamentals is labor-intensive, but the only way to insure a straight stem.
For both grower and florist, fruiting branches may require a little more effort, but the payoff is a seasonal favorite that will bring customers back time and again.
A few of the favorites:
Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens or C. orbiculatus) is a fast-growing vine that produces fruit about a quarter to three-eighths of an inch in diameter. This type of fruit is called by botanists a capsule. When it is mature, the orange outside of the capsule reflexes backwards, exposing the fleshy, bright red, interior fruit (the aril). Stems are generally leafless.
Blackberry (Rubus spp) branches have become more popular as a cut material over the last three to four years owing to the addition of “thornless” varieties. There still may be a few stray thorns, so care should be taken when handling the stems. Cut blackberries are best used when the fruit is still partially green. Stems will typically have leaves surrounding the fruit.
Crabapples (Malus spp) are available in a wide array of colors. The branching structure also varies: the fruit may be clustered almost entirely at the stem end or scattered along the entire branch. Depending upon the variety, the stems may have leaves or be leafless. Crabapple colors include pink, burgundy, red, green, and salmon.
Persimmon (Diospyros spp), a member of the Ebenaceae or ebony family, typically has small, round fruits one to two inches in diameter, orange or burnt orange, in color. However, some varieties may have larger fruits, three to four inches in diameter, which are less numerous on each stem. The fruits dangle slightly from the mostly leafless stems. Historically, persimmon wood has been used for making billiard cues and the wooden heads of highest-quality golf clubs.
Rose hips (Rosa spp), which are the seed pods from several varieties of floribunda (spray) roses, are typically clustered at the end of the stem. Colors range from green to burgundy to bright red. Stems are typically leafless.
Snowberries (Symphoricarpos albus) are named for their white coloring, though many of the cut varieties are actually tinted with pink. With a multi-branched stem, the small fruits (a half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter) can be found scattered along the stem, but usually concentrated at the tips. Stems are usually leafless.
Viburnum (Viburnum spp) is one of the earlier fruiting branches to become available, usually sometime in July. Viburnum’s terminal cluster of berries begin the season mostly green; later harvests are typically dark blue (and are sometimes called blueberry viburnum). Stems will have leaves along the entire length.
Winterberry is really a type of deciduous holly (Ilex verticillata). Clusters of bright red berries, spaced along the stems make a nice contrast when leaves are still green in autumn, but are even more attractive when exposed on the bare twigs in winter.
[excerpted from the "Fresh Focus" section of the September 2009 issue of Flowers& magazine]
