Thanks for plant ID! Jersusalem Cherry it is...

Thanks to the person who identified the plant in a previous blog... it is a Jerusalem Cherry. Turns out the berries are highly poisonous so I am considering getting rid of it. I kind of hate to do it though as I like it AND it's not supposed to thrive in Georgia. Not only does it come back every year without any help, but it's thriving. So there experts!

I need to make sure somehow that visiting children don't have access to it if I keep it. I was even tempted to try it myself... it looks just like an orange tomato or edible fruit. I wouldn't do it, but if it tempts me, I know a young child wouldn't hesitate.

Good luck in finding your plant!

Have you tried your local extension service? I was told recently that they're a great resource when it comes to identifying local plants. They were next on my list of places to try.

I'll be happy to post a photo and description on here if you'd like to send a link.

Thanks again.

ID Plant? Orange "berry", white flower...

I have a mystery plant that pops up each year in a shady part of one of my flower beds. I love the colors and the way it is so hardy (which means it's probably a weed ;-).

I had one plant, now I have two, which I "assume" means one of the berries seeded. With all the berries it produces I'm surprised I don't have a hundred of them, but maybe I'm pulling them up as weeds unaware.

I've lived here five years and a fair percentage of my garden was here when I arrived so it could be something planted by the previous owner or it could be a wild plant.

I've asked my plant friends, the lawn guy and made countless searches on the Internet but haven't been able to identify the plant. My Mom, who knows a lot about plants couldn't identify it either (however, she only had my verbal description to work with... maybe when she sees these photos she'll go "a-ha, I know what it's called...").

I'm sure it's something simple, something common, and someone out there in blog or Twitter land will know the answer... right? please?

The plant is about 2 feet high and is located in the Atlanta, Georgia area (southeast US).

It has pretty small white flowers during early summer that hang upside-down. They have a dark yellow or orange center. I think the petals come to a point, but after looking at so many photos on the Internet I could be remembering incorrectly.

I thought it might be in the Fairybell family because of the flowers, but didn't see any located in the Southeast.

I took a photo of the flowers earlier this year, but can't find them now (of course). They're tiny, not as large as the fruit / berry.

It has 3/4 inch dark shiny fruit or berries that turn a gorgeous orange. I cut one open this morning to see what's inside. It rather looks like a tomato but it's not soft.

It has a familiar smell to it, but for the life of me I can't quite attach it to whatever it's reminding me of from the garden (or maybe the wilds).

Hopefully the plant isn't in the poison sumac family (read that some have an orange berry it seems...) given the fact that I pulled off one of the berries, took it into the kitchen to cut and photograph! That's going to be my next Internet stop. Making me itch just to think of the possibility.

I have searched for "orange berry" and "white flower". Could be I need to change "berry" to "fruit" in my Internet search efforts.

I also tried a search on "Fairybell" and while I found similar flowers, none of the photos showed the fruit.

Any ideas? Anyone know what my mystery plant is named?

Georgia blueberry crop ripe, ready and robust

A late spring freeze followed by heavy rains were a blessing for some Georgia blueberry growers. But they brought more hard work to others, according to University of Georgia experts.

The heavy rains delayed harvest of the southeast Georgia crop, causing some early concerns about highbush berry quality. “We had to work harder to make grade due to the heavy rains this spring, but it’s turning out to be good year for rabbiteye growers,” said UGA Cooperative Extension blueberry agent Danny Stanaland.

“We grow two blueberry crops in Georgia – highbush and rabbiteye,” Stanaland went on to explain. The highbush crop in some areas of southeast Georgia, which is the state’s major commercial production area, “was hit hard by the late freeze and will produce only about 35 to 50 percent of the crop.”

Robust rabbiteye crop

Fortunately, blueberry fans all over Georgia can expect a bumper crop from the rabbiteye variety.

“It will be the largest crop of rabbiteye blueberries we’ve had in several years,” Stanaland said. That’s especially good news for Georgia’s 300 blueberry growers. The majority of the crop is rabbiteye variety, and about 10 percent of the total crop is highbush variety.

“The highbush variety blooms and fruits early, making it more susceptible to the low temperatures and rain,” Stanaland said. “But, May 20 we finished harvesting highbush. That crop is gone.”

Growers are now harvesting rabbiteye berries in three phases.

“The early rabbiteye berries were wet and had some grading issues because it required more selective picking to get the good berries,” he said. “Now that it’s dry again, it’s much easier to harvest and grade, and fruit quality is very positive. We have the heaviest rabbiteye fruit set we’ve had in years. So, while we were short on highbush berries, we are going to be long on rabbiteye.”

Pick-your-own time

In the northern half of the state, where most blueberry operations are pick-your-own, growers are reporting larger-than-normal berries and an abundant crop, just in time for many markets to open this weekend.

In 2008, Georgia blueberry growers harvested more than 14,000 acres of blueberries with an off-the-farm value of close to $61 million dollars, slightly above the five-year average.

This year, growers expect to harvest between 12,000 and 14,000 acres, but that figure could surge as high as 15,000 to 20,000 acres, according to Stanaland and county Extension agent reports. About 75 percent of those acres are in southeast Georgia.

Prices are holding steady in spite of the abundance of available fruit this year, which usually drives prices down. Growers are getting about $14 per flat — or $1.40 per pound — for fresh berries, only a shade lower than last year’s price.

(Author Faith Peppers is a news editor for the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)