Snowberry

Family Caprifoliaceae. Name: from Greek 'sympherin' - "to bring together" and 'karpos' - "fruit"; named for the clustered arrangement of fruits.

A more lyrical name — snowberry, by which it is known everywhere, arose thanks to the white color of the fruits that seem to cover the bushes with snow. However, the name "snowberry" has even spread to those species of the genus Symphoricarpos that bear fruits not snow-white but red.

Description: includes up to 15 species of deciduous shrubs, growing in mountain forests, along riverbanks, on dry rocky slopes of North America. Only one "outlier" — Chinese snowberry (S. sinensis) — grows in China and has black berries.

Location: At present the most widespread and hardy is undoubtedly the common snowberry. Snowberries with pink fruits still do poorly in areas with cool summers and wet, thaw-prone winters. They are better suited to warmer chernozem regions. Possibly, in cold summers their shoots do not have time to mature, i.e., to reliably lignify and form buds protected for wintering. Otherwise snowberries are undemanding. They can grow on rocky, calcareous soils, in partial shade, and do not require watering.

Propagation: by cuttings, suckers, dividing the bushes. It is very easy to grow them from seeds. Immediately after harvesting the fruits in autumn, seeds are sown directly in the ground or into pots and boxes. They are sown shallowly; the sowings are covered with sawdust or dry leaves. Boxes and pots are left outdoors under the snow for winter. Seedlings emerge in spring, in some cases after a year. In the first years the snowberry grows quickly, by the third year reaching 90 cm - 1 m and begin to flower.

Use: they tolerate pruning well and regrow quickly afterward. Thanks to root suckers they gradually form dense large groups. In gardening snowberries are very useful as they are good honey plants. In combination with tall shrubs or small trees with dark green foliage, and with coniferous plants, they form beautiful contrasting groups. They can be used to create a dense and decorative living hedge, or to make a border. Snowberry is among the most smoke- and gas-resistant plants.

The fruits of snowberries are inedible, but if desired you can try a berry; nothing will happen. You will only find that its taste is very unpleasant. Some birds that feed on berries in winter, such as waxwings, do not disdain snowberries either; however, they eat only the seeds.