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TREE COUNCIL OF IRELAND
Comhairle Crann na hÉireann
Native Tree
GUELDER ROSE
Caorchon
Viburnum opulus
ABOUT
Not a rose at all, but this is certainly one of our most attractive wayside hedging.
Guelder rose is usually found in hedges or at the edge of fields an small woods beside a drain - it needs damp.
The flowers are disc of creamy blossoms, larger at the outer edge. These are followed by translucent bright red berries, which colour early in the autumn, which is when this shrub is its most obvious.
COLLECTING SEEDS
Ideally, gather fruits before they are fully ripe, red and soft, otherwise they can become a bit mushy. Collect the fruits by hand picking or stripping branches.
STORAGE/STRATIFICATION OF SEEDS
Store fruit in polythene bags until over-ripe or rotten. Separate flesh from seeds and clean in water. Because of their variable germination time, they are difficult to stratify in the usual way. 41 (Viburnum opulus) Guelder Rose - Caorchon
SOWING SEEDS
Instead, sow seeds immediately after cleaning in seed trays or a sheltered seedbed and cover with 2cm light soil. Never allow them to dry out. Germination is variable, erratic, and unpredictable and some seedlings may not emerge for 3 springs following sowing or they may germinate straight away! Line out 15 - 20 cm apart the following autumn after emergence.
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