How about planting some edible shrubs around your Summit County or Breckenridge, Colorado real estate? The end of April is a great time to start. A little cluster or a hedge of berry producing shrubs will not only warm up the yard of your home in Breckenridge CO with beautiful flowers but will put food on the table. Think of the vine-ripened antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals for you and the kids. And, if you’re out of town when the fruit is ripe, the birds will have a feast.
If you don’t know where to start, try summitlandscapingofbreck.com to see what’s for sale near real estate in Breckenridge. This local landscaping company and nursery carries a selection of edible shrubs that have proven themselves in Summit and Park County rocky soil and higher elevations of 9,000 to 11,000 feet. Although many fruit-bearing plants take years to develop, others will surprise you during the upcoming season.
Generally speaking, people take the berries of these fruiting shrubs and transform them into year round edibles such as jam and jelly. Some are wonderful baked into pies and others are deliciously sweet right off the tree. When you shop for little bushes, try learning the Latin names so that you can differentiate between the varieties of chokeberries, Juneberries, currants, elderberries, raspberries, and so forth.
For example, Ribes is the root name for currants, also known as gooseberries. Our local nursery carries Ribes alpinum, the Alpine Currant; Ribes alpinum, the Green Mound Currant; Ribes hirtellum, the Pixwell Gooseberry; Ribes Silvestre, the Red Lake Currant that you’ll see at 9,000 feet. They carry Ribes aureum, the Yellow Flowering Currant that can withstand conditions at 10,000 feet and Ribes cereum, the Squaw Currant that mingles with the extreme skiers at 11,000 feet.
Two-to-three year-old wood will produce fruit, so plan ahead. Fresh gooseberry pie during your 2011 family reunion will be a big hit and/or you can put away some luscious jellies and jams to wrap with a bow and sent out for as mountain grown holiday gifts.
Some of the best fruiting shrubs fall into the Prunus genus. They are in the plum family. The hardy Oriental vintage variety called Prunus tomentosa goes by the common name of Nanking Cherry and produces welcome pale pink flowers along the stem during the very first part of the spring season. Since the plant grows to about 8 feet, it makes a lovely hedge, producing small red tart cherries that are wonderful in pies, jams, jellies, and for wine.
The Prunus besseyi tolerates the dry soil at our 9,000-foot elevations. This shrub’s black acidy cherries, fragrant white flowers, and artsy silvery-green leaves top out at about 5-feet tall. A Colorado variety is called the Pawnee Butte and spreads along the ground.
Chokeberries are also in the Prunus genus. Prunus virginian, the Canada Red, is popular here and can withstand the 10,000-foot elevations. The common name “chokeberry†refers to most of the inedible astringent black berries that become edible when cooked. Many people leave these to the birds. To confuse matters, Aronia melanocarpa, officially called Chokeberry, is no relation to the Prunus genus, is very easy to grow in all types of soil.
If you still need a great property to plant your berry bushes on, contact Rick Allemang at (970) 547-1002. Put in some fast-growing Elderberry shrubs and the gang will soon be raiding your pie cupboard and sharing memories of glorious summers in the mountains.
