Hippophae rhamnoides is native to central and western Eurasia. The fruit, which we call seaberry, contains a lot of vitamin C, E, carotenoids, flavonoids, unsaturated fatty acids, as well as higher amounts of B12 than other fruits. The plants are extremely cold hardy, down to zone 3. They are tolerant of wet feet, and in some instances have drought tolerance, but in the northeast this has seemed to not be the case. Plant in mesic or slightly wetter than ideal soil rather than a droughty area.

With the seedlings we sell, there is a higher chance of plants being female rather than male, but since they are seedlings there is no way to know until they flower. These plants are seeds sourced from good named varieties all established in zone 4 by my friend and colleague Ben Falk, author of the resilient farm and homestead. That said, seedlings are still likely to be more thorny and have smaller fruits than cultivars, but since all parents are cultivars, the likelihood that these seedlings will be of good quality is excellent.

The Russian Orange variety is an excellent quality female cultivar with large fruit and fewer thorns that most seedlings.