Actinidia kolomikta
Manor Nursery, Angmering, West Sussex.
Actinidia kolomikta (Japanese: Miyamamatatabi 深山木天蓼, ミヤママタタビ) is a species of flowering plant in the family Actinidiaceae, native to temperate mixed forests of the Russian Far East, Korea, Japan and China (Eastern Asiatic Region).
The plant was collected by Charles Maries in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, in 1878, and sent to his patrons, Veitch Nurseries, who introduced it into Western horticulture.
Actinidia kolomikta is a very long-lived, deciduous woody scrambling vine and creeper, which ultimately grows to 8–10 metres (26–33 ft). It is the hardiest species in the genus Actinidia, at least down to about −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter, albeit somewhat susceptible to late spring frosts.
Actinidia kolomikta is cultivated in cold temperate regions as an ornamental plant, largely for the striking random variegation of its leaves, which look as if they've been dipped into pots of pink and white paint.
It is also grown for the fruits (Arctic Kiwis), which are like a small version of the closely related Kiwi fruits. There are a number of named cultivars bred for the latter purpose in Russia and Poland, though it takes years for a plant to start yielding. Because Actinidia kolomikta is dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants) a male plant is required for pollination of the wild vines and most of the cultivars.
I have eaten the fruits from my cousin's vine in Nova Scotia, and they are delicious!
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
I am told the plant is attractive to cats, which find it more attractive than catnip or valerian and can severely damage the vine. An early propagator in Boston found all his pots of the newly introduced plant bitten to stubs in his greenhouse, before his cat was discovered to be the culprit. I have a lovely Actinidia kolomikta, and none of my own cats have ever expressed any interest in it!
Actinidia kolomikta
Manor Nursery, Angmering, West Sussex.
Actinidia kolomikta (Japanese: Miyamamatatabi 深山木天蓼, ミヤママタタビ) is a species of flowering plant in the family Actinidiaceae, native to temperate mixed forests of the Russian Far East, Korea, Japan and China (Eastern Asiatic Region).
The plant was collected by Charles Maries in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, in 1878, and sent to his patrons, Veitch Nurseries, who introduced it into Western horticulture.
Actinidia kolomikta is a very long-lived, deciduous woody scrambling vine and creeper, which ultimately grows to 8–10 metres (26–33 ft). It is the hardiest species in the genus Actinidia, at least down to about −40 °C (−40 °F) in winter, albeit somewhat susceptible to late spring frosts.
Actinidia kolomikta is cultivated in cold temperate regions as an ornamental plant, largely for the striking random variegation of its leaves, which look as if they've been dipped into pots of pink and white paint.
It is also grown for the fruits (Arctic Kiwis), which are like a small version of the closely related Kiwi fruits. There are a number of named cultivars bred for the latter purpose in Russia and Poland, though it takes years for a plant to start yielding. Because Actinidia kolomikta is dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants) a male plant is required for pollination of the wild vines and most of the cultivars.
I have eaten the fruits from my cousin's vine in Nova Scotia, and they are delicious!
This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
I am told the plant is attractive to cats, which find it more attractive than catnip or valerian and can severely damage the vine. An early propagator in Boston found all his pots of the newly introduced plant bitten to stubs in his greenhouse, before his cat was discovered to be the culprit. I have a lovely Actinidia kolomikta, and none of my own cats have ever expressed any interest in it!