Nandina, (nanten) fruiting profusely
I don't know why but our Nandina domestica aka Sacred Bamboo or Heavenly bamboo {not to be confused with the ubiquitous Lucky bamboo, Dracena, sold seemingly in every conceiveable store} has produced an abundance of berries this year. We have several plants scattered around our yard and they are so heavy with berries that some are falling over. A reaction to climate change?
In the most recent Sunset magazine they describe using the Nandina berries in Christmas decorations. The berries are apparently long lasting and retains its color when picked. Since I need to lighten the load on some of the brances we'll give this decorating idea a try. The birds don't seem to eat the berries so otherwise it will go to waste. I guess the berries are so hard it must not be easy to digest.
My brother in-law just sent us a evergreen wreath so I went out and clipped some nandina berries and stuck them in. Looks great.
posted by Ki at
5:04 AM
5 Comments:
I've been doing the same thing with our Buford holly berries. Free Christmas decorations are always appreciated!
We have Nandina, and maybe it would have done the profusely-berrying thing, too, but I cut the flowers off as soon as I see them.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hmmm, why do you cut off the flowers?
Nandinas are too useful and pretty to give up completely, but are on local invasive lists - they're popping up in all sorts of places they shouldn't. So this is a kind of compromise.
I'm not sure how they act in New Jersey, but in my yard, if I let the berries form, I'll be digging dozens of baby nandinas from every bed and border.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Conditions in Austin must be much more amenable for their propagation. I did plant some seed from our old plant and grew 4-5 plants which are these mature specimens but so far they haven't self seeded. They do spread by short runners but not by much. Interesting that they are sort of a weed in Austin when we have to buy them from nurseries here.
Thanks for the info.
Hi Ki,
I'm a reporter looking into the influence of climate change on gardening and I would love to ask you just a few quick questions. If you could please give me a call at 212 416 2306 or email me at cricketts@gmail.com, that would be great. Thanks so much for your time and consideration.
All the best,
Camille
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