Other Names:  Gumi, Russian Olive

Description:

A medium size shrub that is adaptable and drought resistant; subtle, creamy white flower clusters in spring have a wonderful fragrance; delicious red fruits in early summer are great for preserves; vigorous, hardy and disease free

Ornamental Features

Sweet Scarlet Goumi features subtle clusters of fragrant creamy white trumpet-shaped flowers along the branches in mid spring. It has green foliage with silver undersides. The pointy leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.

Landscape Attributes

Sweet Scarlet Goumi is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a mounded form. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other landscape plants with less refined foliage.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds and bees to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sweet Scarlet Goumi is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sweet Scarlet Goumi will grow to be about 6 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 6 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Sweet Scarlet Goumi makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.