Hippophae rhamnoides Garden's Gift

The Hippophae rhamnoides 'Garden's Gift' is a variety of sea buckthorn that produces very large dark orange fruits. Their flavour is much more pleasant and less acidic than berries from classic German selections. This highly productive variety can be harvested from September onwards. The berries should be soft before being consumed, fresh or cooked in jam, syrup or juice. They are rich in vitamins C, A and E, carotenoids, flavonoids and oil. These berries are also decorative and persist until winter if not harvested. Undemanding and hardy, this moderately spiny bushy shrub is perfect in a free, edible or defensive hedge, not far from a male variety such as 'Pollmix'.

From the Elaeagnaceae family, whose most well-known representative is undoubtedly the Elaeagnus, the Hippophae rhamnoides is the most widespread genus species known as Sea Buckthorn, Thorny Willow or Siberian Olive. This pioneer plant is native to temperate areas of Europe and Asia, where it grows in mountainous regions or on coastal dunes. The 'Garden's Gift' variety is a recent Swiss creation that stands out for its very large dark orange fruits, which are much more enjoyable to eat fresh than older varieties. Although some self-fertile varieties exist, sea buckthorn is a dioecious plant, meaning it bears either male or female flowers. Insects and wind carry out pollination. One male plant is needed for every 6 to 8 female plants to ensure good pollination and a good harvest. The female varieties produce the berries, like 'Garden's Gift'.

This bushy shrub can reach 2 to 3 m in all directions. Its trailing and graceful branches bear delicate leaves, 2 to 8 cm long, greyish-green with a silvery-white underside. They are spiny in the upper part. The spring flowers (March-April) are insignificant and adorn the pendulous branches. Once fertilized, they develop into oval berries about 1 cm in diameter, creating a cascade of orange. These berries are both decorative and edible. Very rich in vitamin C (about 30 times more than an orange), they can be eaten raw once fully ripe, usually from September onwards, or transformed into juice, jams or syrups.

This highly decorative shrub will find its place in the garden in winter, thanks to its colourful fruiting, either as a standalone plant or in a flower bed. Its edible fruits can also easily be placed in the orchard. Each plant can produce up to 20 kg of fruit. But it is in a hedge that sea buckthorns are most at home: free hedges, edible hedges, or even defensive hedges with short thorns. In an edible hedge, for example, combine it with a male Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) with its early yellow flowering and the 'Smoky' Amelanchier with its sumptuous autumn colours of red, orange and purple. Sea buckthorn is ideally suited for permaculture and is a natural refuge for biodiversity, beneficial to bees (melliferous flowering), birds and small mammals that love its many fruits.