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Sea Buckthorn (Bundle of 5) | Spring 2027
$119.99
Reliable shipping
Flexible returns
Ripening
Will it finish before your first hard freeze?
Check it on the Ripening Map (opens in a new tab)At a glance: Sea Buckthorn is a sea buckthorn shrub rated hardy to zone 2 in our ratings (winters to -50°F), and dioecious, with separate male and female plants.
| Hardy to | Zone 2 to 7. A bare number means the whole of zone 2, colder half included (winters to -50°F). Find your zone with our cold hardiness calculator. |
|---|---|
| Pollination | Dioecious - Needs Male and Female. Bloom group 4 of 7 (mid), very early spring here. Sea buckthorn plants are either male or female, and only females fruit. Plant all five together so you almost certainly get both; males supply pollen by wind. Bloom group is our estimate from the variety's origin and relatives. Pollination Charts. |
| Spacing | Plant 6 to 10 ft apart. |
| Good for | Soil building (9/10), juice and sweet cider (8/10), windbreaks and hedgerows (8/10), jams and jellies (7/10), sauce and butter (7/10), feeding wildlife (6/10). Scores are our own 1 to 10 ratings; 8 and up makes our Best Of lists. |
| Deer | Seldom badly damaged by deer. |
| What you get | Bare root, 3-5 ft. Shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring, roots wrapped in moist sawdust. Guaranteed to bud out. |
Overview
These sea buckthorn seedlings (Hippophae rhamnoides) are exceptionally hardy, nitrogen-fixing shrubs valued for their bright orange, nutrient-dense berries, wind tolerance, and ability to thrive in poor soils. This offering is a bundle of five seed-grown plants, from a super hardy seed source from North Dakota, ideal for establishing a productive planting with built-in pollination odds.
Origin and History
Sea buckthorn is native to a broad region spanning Europe and Asia, where it has long been used for food, medicine, land restoration, and erosion control. It has been widely planted in cold, dry, and marginal landscapes due to its extreme resilience, deep roots, and ability to improve soil through nitrogen fixation.
Fruit & Uses
Female plants produce clusters of vivid orange berries that are extremely rich in vitamin C, carotenoids, and omega fatty acids. The berries are tart and acidic when fresh, and are most commonly used for juice, syrups, jams, sauces, oils, and fermented products. Can be eaten fresh but they're pretty tart for most. Male plants do not produce fruit but are essential for pollination.
Growth Habit & Spacing
Sea buckthorn forms a vigorous, multi-stemmed shrub, typically reaching 8–12 feet tall and wide, though size varies with site and pruning. Plants spread via suckers and are well suited to hedgerows, shelterbelts, and restoration plantings. Spacing of 6–10 feet between plants is common, depending on whether a dense hedge or more open planting is desired. Full sun and well-drained soils are preferred, but the plant tolerates drought, wind, cold, and low fertility extremely well.
Pollination
Sea buckthorn is dioecious, meaning individual plants are either male or female. Pollination is wind-driven, not insect-based, so having at least one male nearby is essential for fruit production.
These plants are grown from seed, which means there is no fixed male-to-female ratio in any given bundle. However, in large populations, seed-grown sea buckthorn naturally averages about 50% male and 50% female.
Because the sex of seedlings cannot be determined until they flower, the ratio within a bundle of five is random. Statistically, each seedling has a 50% chance of being male and a 50% chance of being female.
To put the odds in practical terms:
The probability that all five seedlings are female is (0.5)⁵, or 3.125%.
That means the probability that a bundle of five contains at least one male is 96.875%.
In real-world terms, almost every bundle of five will include a male, making this an effective and practical way to establish a fruiting planting from seedlings.
Summary:
Seedling ratio: roughly 50/50 male–female
Odds your bundle of five includes at least one male: ~97%
Cold Hardiness
Sea buckthorn is extremely cold-hardy and can survive into the -40°F range once established. It is also highly tolerant of wind exposure and winter desiccation, making it one of the most reliable fruiting shrubs for harsh, continental climates. Great shelter belt as well. Zone 2. Will survive in the vast majority of Montana.
Plants are 3-5 ft. tall
Shipping restrictions: state invasive plant law
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is named on Maine’s list of invasive plants prohibited from sale or import. We cannot ship this plant to Maine.
Sea buckthorn suckers freely and spreads by seed. Please check your own state and county noxious-weed list before planting, and site it where suckering can be managed.
Orders placed to a prohibited state will be cancelled and refunded.
Questions we get about Sea Buckthorn
How cold hardy is Sea Buckthorn?
We rate Sea Buckthorn hardy to zone 2, which means winters down to about -50°F. Our ratings come from real winters at our two Montana sites and from trusted growers across the North, not from a catalog average.
What is Sea Buckthorn good for?
Our top use scores for Sea Buckthorn are soil building (9/10), juice and sweet cider (8/10), windbreaks and hedgerows (8/10), jams and jellies (7/10). Anything scored 8 or higher makes our Best Of lists.
Will deer eat Sea Buckthorn?
Not badly. Deer may nibble Sea Buckthorn, but they seldom do real damage.
What arrives, and when does Sea Buckthorn ship?
A dormant bare-root plant, roots wrapped in moist sawdust with a vapor barrier, shipped or picked up in Missoula in spring. Sizes offered: 3-5 ft. We guarantee our plants bud out. Stone fruits can be slow, so if one still has not budded out by August 15, write to us and we credit you for the following spring.