Schisandra chinensis
Also known as the five-flavor fruit, this shade-tolerant vine produces abundant crops of bright red fruits in clusters like grapes. Schisandra fruit has a long list of medicinal uses and a flavor unlike anything we’ve ever tasted. The flesh is sweet and sour. The seed has a flavor that can be described as salty, bitter, and spicy (hence the ‘five-flavor fruit’). We like to ferment the fruits in honey and press out all the liquid to yield a sweet syrup that tastes exactly like Sourpatch Kids (the candy). This does not last long in the fridge. We then dry the seeds that are left after pressing and use them for tea or just eat them. The seeds are very pungent.
Schisandra is dioecious like Seaberries, meaning there are male and female plants. Females produce the fruit and males are needed for pollination. We are selling seedlings that are not sexed, meaning there are males and females mixed. Most of our seed is coming from a self-fertile hybrid plant, likely ‘Eastern Prince,’ which has perfect flowers and does not need a male for pollination, but this does not mean that its offspring will be self-fertile like the parent. Maybe there are some self-fertile seedlings in there, but we haven’t done a deep dive into this yet, so we’re assuming these seedlings are not self-fertile.
We started growing Schisandra last year and have found that it grows slowly in the first year, so our seedlings are on the smaller side and priced accordingly.
Hardy to zones 4-8
Schisandra chinensis
Also known as the five-flavor fruit, this shade-tolerant vine produces abundant crops of bright red fruits in clusters like grapes. Schisandra fruit has a long list of medicinal uses and a flavor unlike anything we’ve ever tasted. The flesh is sweet and sour. The seed has a flavor that can be described as salty, bitter, and spicy (hence the ‘five-flavor fruit’). We like to ferment the fruits in honey and press out all the liquid to yield a sweet syrup that tastes exactly like Sourpatch Kids (the candy). This does not last long in the fridge. We then dry the seeds that are left after pressing and use them for tea or just eat them. The seeds are very pungent.
Schisandra is dioecious like Seaberries, meaning there are male and female plants. Females produce the fruit and males are needed for pollination. We are selling seedlings that are not sexed, meaning there are males and females mixed. Most of our seed is coming from a self-fertile hybrid plant, likely ‘Eastern Prince,’ which has perfect flowers and does not need a male for pollination, but this does not mean that its offspring will be self-fertile like the parent. Maybe there are some self-fertile seedlings in there, but we haven’t done a deep dive into this yet, so we’re assuming these seedlings are not self-fertile.
We started growing Schisandra last year and have found that it grows slowly in the first year, so our seedlings are on the smaller side and priced accordingly.
Hardy to zones 4-8
