Russian olive – Elaeagnus angustifolia

Description

Description

Russian olive is a deciduous shrub from the Elaeagneaceae family, native to Central and Western Asia. Russian olive is grown mainly for two reasons – it is a strong nitrogen fixer, able to grow in very poor soils, and it has edible berries that ripen in Autumn The berries are a bit mealy, tart, pale red fruit that are about 12mm in diameter – B-grade fruit at best. The seeds are full of healthy oils and protein as well and can be chewed along with the fruit. As a nitrogen fixer – Russian olive grows relatively quickly and can provide shelter from wind and excellent chop and drop mulch for the rest of the garden, and works excellently as a hedge. The fragrant flowers are an excellent nectar source for bees. Warning – in some countries it has proven to be invasive, however there is no evidence of the deciduous Elaeagnus species being weedy in New Zealand as it is much more suited to continental rather than maritime climates.

Russian olive can handle deep frosts down to -40°C once mature, so are almost invincible from frosts. They prefer well-drained soil. Plants are hermaphrodite and so should set fruit by themselves with sufficient pollination. Russian olive has been grown in New Zealand successfully, but we don’t know much about the success or whether they were grown from improved varieties.

These seeds were freshly imported from Europe, from a mixture of named varieties selected for larger and sweeter fruit than the wild species.

Seeds per packet: 10

Growing Instructions

These seeds are already cold-stratified and only need to be hydrated (soak in water for 1-2 days), and then can either be planted, or kept in a bag of sphagnum moss until ready to sprout. Our own seeds have already started to germinate.

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