Silverberry (Elaeagnus latifolia)

Discover a highly resilient, rare fruit-bearing shrub that brings beauty and abundance to your garden! Elaeagnus latifolia is an attractive, fast-growing evergreen prized for its unique, shimmering foliage and juicy, tart-sweet red berries.

Famous for its striking leaves with brilliant silvery-white undersides, this vigorous plant blooms with fragrant, cream-colored flowers in autumn, followed by small, olive-shaped red fruit. The fruit has a pleasant, pleasantly acidic-sweet flavor reminiscent of red currants or rhubarb, making it delicious eaten fresh or made into jams, jellies, and tarts.

As a nitrogen-fixing plant, Elaeagnus latifolia actively improves the soil around it! It is exceptionally hardy and handles Perth’s hot, dry summers and poor sandy soils with remarkable ease, making it a brilliant choice for edible hedges, windbreaks, or permaculture food forests.

Key Features

• Unique Tart-Sweet Berries: Yields clusters of vibrant red, olive-like berries with a refreshing, tangy-sweet flavor loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.
• Nitrogen-Fixing Soil Builder: Naturally fixes atmospheric nitrogen into the soil, enriching surrounding plants and improving soil fertility in poor, sandy conditions.
• Shimmering Ornamental Foliage: Features broad green leaves with silver-dusted undersides that sparkle in the breeze, creating a stunning visual contrast in the garden.
• Extremely Tough & Adaptable: Highly tolerant of drought, coastal winds, heat, and poor soils once established, making it exceptionally low-maintenance.
• Versatile Garden Use: Grows as a dense shrub or scrambling climber, making it perfect for privacy screening, windbreaks, permaculture designs, or large pots.

Care & Growing Tips for Perth

• Position: Plant in a full sun to partially shaded position. Handles Perth’s intense summer heat exceptionally well once established.
• Soil: Highly adaptable to almost any soil type, including Perth's lean, sandy soils. Prefers well-draining soil and can thrive even in low-fertility ground.
• Watering: Requires regular watering during establishment. Once rooted, it is remarkably drought-tolerant and requires minimal water through hot summer months.
• Pruning: Prune after fruiting or during early spring to maintain a tidy shrub shape, control size, or train as a formal hedge.
• Fertilizer: Requires little to no nitrogen fertilizer thanks to its natural nitrogen-fixing capabilities—simply mulch well around the base.

Quick Specifications

• Botanical Name: Elaeagnus latifolia.
• Common Name: Broadleaf Silverberry / Bastard Oleaster / Wild Olive.
• Growth Habit: Vigorous evergreen shrub or scrambling climber.
• Mature Size: 1.5m – 2 m height and width (easily kept smaller with pruning).
• Harvest Season: Late Spring to Summer.
• Pollination: Self-pollinating (Self-fertile).