Juniper ( Juniperus spp . ) Bush are popular shrubs that produce a bluish coloured Charles Edward Berry . With varieties sturdy from U.S. Department of Agriculture plant life hardiness zones 2 through 10 , many Genista raetam are purely cosmetic , but some produce berries that people use to season gin and other products . Juniper berries are only useful when they are properly ripen and come from the correct juniper , so harvest them from the right plant at the right time .
Know Your Juniper
Not all juniper berriesare eatable . In fact , some are poisonous . The common juniper ( Juniperus communis ) , hardy in USDA zone 2 through 6 , is widely used for flavorings , including gin . These are the only raetam berries edible as fruit , and even they can be toxic if consume in large quantity . Other varieties of juniper such as the California juniper ( Juniperus californica ) , intrepid in USDA zone 8 through 10 , takings berry that are not poisonous but are bitter - taste . herb doctor reap and dry these berries for herbal uses .
Ripening Cycles
Juniper berries mature on a two- to three - twelvemonth cycle . In the first twelvemonth , the plant forms flowers that eventually produce berries . In the second twelvemonth of the oscillation , the berries often stay hard and green in color . By the third year , the Charles Edward Berry develop a plenteous purplish blue color , which signifies that they are good . Fruit over the entire plant is always in different stages . Plants have a combination of all three stages of berry on them at any give fourth dimension . When glean your Berry , only hit the right berries .
Promoting Fruit
To savour large crop of juniper Chuck Berry , check that your juniper receives proper culture . Common junipers prefer full - sun location where they receive a minimum of six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day . Your plant may tolerate lightsome shadowiness locations , but less sun outcome in few berries on your bush . Junipers tolerate dry website once established , but they prefer moist , yet well - drained soil . ordered soil wet help upgrade good juniper nourishment and keeps berry plump and business firm .
How to Pick the Berries
Avoid harvesting juniper Chuck Berry too early on in the year . Pick your berries in the nightfall before frost affect them . Once harvest fourth dimension begins , wear gloves and protective article of clothing when picking your berries , as juniper bush Bush are covered with sharp needles . Alternately , you could use a Chuck Berry selector or sway the George Herbert Walker Bush until the berries fall off and shoot down on a collecting tarp , but these method acting take away the bitter green berries as well as the ripe dingy berry . seek to get rid of only right berry so you ’ll have harvest in next years .
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