We have an aucuba in the garden. It is quite a large shrub now with beautiful lush shiny leaves, it's thriving. The main reason we bought it in the first place was that even as a small plant in the garden centre it had masses of red berries on it, and the wife loved it. So we bought it. That was about 8 years ago. Fast forward to the present day and we haven't had one single berry in all that time since!! I thought it was something I was doing wrong but it's lush and healthy growth suggested something else was amiss, but being a novice I didn't have a clue. I mentioned this to a staff member at my local garden centre and she said that my plant will be male or female, and if there isn't another aucuba nearby to "mate" with, then I have no chance of it getting any berries anytime soon!! This would explain everything but I almost feel let down now that we will never see those berries, that we got it for in the first place, ever again. Is this the same with all aucubas? Do you really need to be buying two of them and hope you have a male and female (how the hell would you know anyway?). Are there any gardening tips/hacks that can be performed to produce berries?
I am in the same position, never noticed mine producing berries, in fact I didn't know they could. Some palms are either male and female so I suppose it could be with acuba. Taking cuttings from a known female and plant near your lonely male might be the solution.
Well it seems mine is female then. It gets masses of those "insignificant flowers" that that article mentions, but no berries. And it would seem the advice from the woman in the garden centre was right, you do need male and female close together so the female can produce berries. That is a bummer. It also states that the "rozannie" variety can self fertilise. I wish I'd have known that 8 years ago.
Must admit I've learnt from this too. The RHS says they don't like sitting in wet soil over winter which causes the leaves to go black. I always assumed my one was a bit tender and frost had caused the blackening. I'm going to have to move it somewhere better drained.
I feel a bit let down to be honest. Unless you're an extremely knowledgeable gardener, which I am not, then buying a plant in its full splendour at a gardening centre is what you expect every year. I remember there were loads of these aucubas, all with berries on. All looking beautiful to trick the novice gardener into purchasing one. Doh! From what I know now I bet close by there were other aucubas too, males!!! I still have all my tags from the plants I buy stored in the shed. I found the tag for my aucuba and there's nothing saying, "ha, sucker, make the most of those berries, because you'll not be seeing any of those again!!!" Lol.
I thought I'd revisit this thread because something miraculous has happened. My auccuba which I've had about 8 years, and was bought for it's beautiful berries, has never bore fruit in all the time we've had it. It has been a major disappointment really but I now fully understand why. They need a plant of the opposite sex nearby so insects can do their thing and pollenate it. And obviously we mustn't have another one nearby, hence the lack of fruit......until now!! I was looking out of the kitchen window earlier and I could see bits of red in the foliage. I went out to investigate and low and behold it is absolutely full of berries, some are just turning red, others have yet to do so. I'm over the moon with this development. 8 years is a long time to wait!! Lol.
I've got a few of these and just learned their name! Some years with berries, others without. I can't say I'm hugely attached to mine but it is a good gap filler
We have an Aucuba in our small garden Berries every year Took this photo today Cheap enough here Aucuba Rozannie - Japanese Laurel
I believe "rozannie" has both male and female flowers so is self fertilising, hence your annual "display". When I got mine, whatever strain it is, it was full of berries at the time, I had no inkling about the male and female thing. Mine is obviously either a female or a male, and I've just got lucky this year that by a stroke of luck someone may have planted another auccuba in a nearby garden of the opposite sex to mine!
If it's got or had berries it's either one of the male/female cultivar or a female. Males will obviously never have berries.
