Have you tried Forest Farm (forestfarm.com) recently? I believe they carry it now.

Sapphireberry used to be much more available a few years ago. I bought a couple from Woodlanders and a couple more from Eastern Plant Specialties. All four have grown well and shown no particular problems with disease. The only difficulty was that the 17-year cicadas just loved them.

I've had plenty of the blue berries, but no plants have ever come up from seed underneath or nearby them. Perhaps they are tricky to propagate?

I've seen the plant looking great out on Long Island, NY, but I have had two failed attempts with the plant in Zone 5. I think is is best reserved for a warm zone 6 or 7.

I have always love the plant based on the images I see in books. If anyone has had luck with this plant in the North I would be interested in hearing about your experience.

I have also decided that I want to try this in my Kansas City garden. I saw it last year at Arnold Arboretum in Boston and it had me mesmerized. Has anyone had luck with it this far west? Any thoughts? Does it require male and female plants? This plant is very hard to find!

The berries are beautiful but they aren't persistent.

My first posting in this forum.

I just ordered 5 small plants of "SAPPHIRE-BERRY" (Symplocos paniculata)...from MUSSER FORESTS. This is the only company that I know of, that is offering this tree. For the price, I thought I'd try growing these shrubs for the berry display. I'm sure I'll be waiting a long time.

Does anyone know if they will make a decent subject for Bonsai training? After the 5 "trees" grow for a few years, I'll fuse-graft the trunks. together to form one thicker "composite" trunk. I have used this grafting technique on other species to create thicker trunks in a shorter time.

I would be interested in learning more about these shrub/trees.

Thanks....Frank DV.....from DA-BRONX

There are several very old specimens of these at Mt. Airy Arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio, solid zone 6. They are doing well and deer seem to leave them alone. The plants in question are more small trees--similar to hawthorns in form--than shrubs. I have read that more that one plant is needed for fruiting to occur. The berries are spectacular. I've never seen the plant in bloom. I've heard occasional reports of the plant being invasive, but I've not seen evidence of this at Mt. Airy.

Part of its rarity might be it is very reluctant to germinate from seed. If it is difficult to vegetatively propagate, that could partly explain it.

Scott

I don't know much about bonsai but it seems like it would be. I'm only familiar with three plants which are small upright trees. The leaves are small and the branching is thin.

the photos of this plant that i have seen are really nice, but the plants were HYOOUGE

I read you from Northern France. it is my first intervention on this forum, despite of my bad english !

I did not know Symplocos paniculata before 2005 when I decided to buy one at Waasland arboretum (Norhern Belgium)

it is very difficult to have good information about it :
The first winter was snowy (2005/06) and my shrub (in well drained soil and sunny place was not vigorous...
i think it must have a 'good summer time' to get fruits..

It is already with a thin branching as Loretta's one.
2007, the foliage is already small, perhaps the soil is not rich enough, or the sun is too hard at this place in summer ?
If somebody has good idea...
Thanks a lot
Phil

ps : congratulations for this Shrubs forum..

Here is a link that might be useful: mill plain garden (northern France)

Bonjour, phil_59! Welcome to this forum. It is always so interesting and helpful to read the ideas and opinions of European gardeners.

Here is a link to a photo of one of my Symplocos paniculata shrubs which shows the branch structure. I planted this one about 10 years ago. There is another one a few feet away. The photo was taken in early spring, so you can get a look at the branching.

After growing these shrubs for 10 years, I find that they need extra water in a dry summer. I did not fertilize them for the first years, but now I do. With fertilizer and water, I notice that the leaves are larger.

I have four of these, and they all required a few years of growth before they produced many flowers and berries. You need two plants for good berry production.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:272286}}

Nice specimen, indeed.. I'll follow these advices .
One question more : How tall were your Symplocos as you bought them ?

I checked my notes. I planted these two Symplocos shrubs in the autumn of 1996. They were about 50 cm tall -- small enough to be mailed to me from a nursery.

I'm resurrecting this thread hoping someone knows of sources for Sapphire Berry. I found it at Forest Farm, but was wondering if other resources were out there. I have checked quite a few online nurseries, but no luck.

Thanks in advance.

Teresa

This is the kind of plant that needs to be pounced on whenever and wherever it is found offered. If a source is a good one, order as soon as you see it.

There have been many queries posted on the internet about where this shrub might be found, if you think you can get it from forestfarm or anyone else don't fiddle about.

A friend listed it through his nursery once, perhaps grown from seed I gave him - I don't remember now - and got many orders for the few plants he was able to get to come up and grow.

Thank you for the advice bboy. I have ordered my Sapphire Berry plants.

Teresa

I'm quite certain that Oliver Nurseries in Fairfield, CT has Symplocos paniculata offered for sale. Not sure if you're still looking or not.

Thank you plantadvocate. I purhased two from ForestFarm. They are about 15 inches tall and were placed in a holding bed this past Spring. I hope to plant them in their permanent location this Spring.

Teresa

Hi, Camellia Forest Nursery has them for $20 and $30. They note you need sunny conditions for them and describe them as small trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: Camellia Forest Nursery

Dawes Arboretum east of Columbus Ohio has a grouping of this plant on the north side of their main entrance, in a lot of shade, and this seems to have determined the size and vigor of the plants as they are small. Last fall, the berry production was huge, but wasn't very apparent due to being in so much shade. What I read - they are very difficult to propagate from seed.
Marshall

Hi: This is my first post here. We planted two of these last summer (after seeing one at Ladew Topiary Gardens), purchased from Camellia Forest Nursery as noted above. They seem to have a regular supply. The fellow I spoke with on the phone there said they have a large specimen at the edge of their grounds that generates a good number of seedlings every year, and that's their source. Michael Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs (a customer of mine once thought the title was "Dirty Harry's Trees and Shrubs!") specifically mentions the one at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, so planting at least that far north seems OK. I understand you need at least two in order to get a decent fruit supply, and apparently more is even better. Ours are obviously very young so they won't be doing much with fruit etc. for a while yet. They are quite difficult to propagate, which at least partly accounts for their scarcity; I'm told the seeds need two full years to germinate...something about that cold-warm-cold-warm cycle being essential to germination.

I first saw this shrub last October at Westonbirt Arboretum here in England. I (probably against the rules) picked up a few fallen berries and sowed them outdoors. There is a single seedling coming up in the pot which I don't recognise as any of the usual weeds in my garden so fingers crossed. I hope the 2 year thing is not rigid but we shall see.

I wish I had found this forum a long time ago. I've been searching for sapphire berry for the past three years and have had no luck in finding a vendor that carries it. Out of all of the nurseries mentioned in this string of posts, Oliver Nurseries is the only vendor that indicates it has this long sought after shrub in it's catalog (2009). I'm calling them when they open tomorrow. Does anyone know of any other sources?!? Please help!!!
Thanks!

I tried to post this before, but I guess it didn't take. I have 6 Sapphires in my yard, bought from Musser Forest, two at a time. Unfortunately, Musser hasn't carried them for a while. We are solid Z4 and temp doesn't seem to be a problem, but I had some heavy snow breakage last winter. The largest limb broke on my oldest (best) tree. I hated to cut it off, so I wrapped it with duct tape, and it seems fine! The berries only stay blue until frost, and our frosts come early, so the berries don't last too long, alas. The blossoms are quite pretty, but I think the best thing is the form of the branches, and overall shape of the tree.

Well - it's an old thread but I was just wondering if anyone knows what Symplocos paniculata seedlings look like. I sowed some berries in November 2009. Last year I posted that I thought I had a seedling but it was a false alarm. However, now there are three seedlings showing which look hopeful. Someone did say it would take 2 years. The seedling leaves look like carrot or fennel seedling leaves but the true leaves are beginning to unfurl and are more like an apple seedling's first true leaves. Does anyone have experience of the seedlings? Obviously I will know eventually when they grow a bit more but I'm just wondering ....