In keeping with the holiday season, let’s look at juniper (Juniperus communis) for all its benefits. Most of us grow this common juniper as a landscape plant. We enjoy its habit, the blue needles and the icy blue berries. We cut branches to decorate our pots or the mantle. We appreciate the shrub’s value to wildlife, too. In researching this plant, I learned that the berries are actually juniper cones. I had no idea.
In case you didn’t know, those berries are to gin like grapes are to wine. If you’ve ever crushed a berry, you’ll recognize an aroma associated with gin.
“Juniper berries are what gives gin its distinctive taste and are, in fact, so important to the spirit that they are required by law to be the core botanical in any drink that wants to call itself gin. The aroma and taste of juniper is – or at least should be – the signature note in any gin, both on the nose and on the palate. Only once this flavour base is established can distillers add their signature touches: Citrus, herbs, black pepper, spices, roots… the list is quite long,” said Neat and Shaken.
A North America native plant, grow junipers in sunny locations with decent drainage. Like the common juniper, most other junipers are shrubs. However, a relative, the native Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is almost always a tree. It’s berries are edible, too.
Juniper shrubs tend to be more wide than tall. They rarely need pruning if planted for their mature size. Keep an eye open for bagworms, which are pretty good at camouflaging themselves to look like whatever conifer or other plant they are on.
Be selective when cutting juniper branches for arrangements. Spread the cuts throughout the shrub…a snip here, a snip there, rather than all in one place. Make the cuts deep in the shrub to avoid rough looking branches.
If you’d like to spice up your holiday cooking fare, consider juniper berry icing on cookies. My friend Ellen Zachos, the Backyard Forager, tells you how.
