Jetbead

Jetbead: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Broad, loose shrub about 1.5 m tall and 2 m wide, with upright to arching branches.

Leaves

Opposite, oval, 5–10 cm, sharply double-toothed and deeply veined; fresh green, with little autumn colour.

Flowers

White flowers, 3–5 cm across, with four petals and many stamens, at the tips of young shoots, in May–June.

Fruit

Shiny black fruits, usually in fours, that hang on well into winter.

Toughness

Tolerates shade, drought and chalky soil, and also grows in an urban garden.

Flowering: May–June · Plants: March–April and October–November · Pruning: February–March

Why grow it?

• Flowers from May to June with large, white, four-petalled blooms that attract bees.
• The shiny black fruits stay on all winter and add contrast to the bare garden.
• A tough shrub: it grows in sun, partial shade and shade and is not fussy about soil.
• Low maintenance: few diseases or pests and hardly any pruning.
• Good in an informal hedge or in a border with other shrubs.

Jetbead: where does it grow best?

• Sun, partial shade or shade: it flowers and fruits best in sun, but it also does well under trees.
• Almost any well-drained garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Normally moist; once established it also tolerates drought.
• Can be planted sheltered or in the open, because it is fully hardy.
• Allow 1.5–2 m of space; in a hedge you can set plants 1 m apart.

Light

Sun, partial shade and shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

1.5 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Weigela: Flowers at the same time, with pink or red blooms beside the white ones.
• Spiraea: A loose, flowering shrub that also grows in sun and on ordinary soil.
• Hydrangea: Takes over in summer and shares the partial shade.
• Hosta: Broad leaves under the shrub in a shady corner.
• Lady’s mantle: A soft, low edging that covers the base of the shrub.

Jetbead: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant in March–April or in October–November, when the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and just as deep.
3. Improve heavy clay or poor sand with a few spadefuls of compost.
4. Set the shrub at the same depth as in its pot, fill in with soil and firm it well.
5. Water in generously straight away, even if it is raining.
6. Spread a layer of compost or bark around the base and keep 1.5–2 m from other plants.

Care

Water

In the first year give a good can of water weekly in dry spells. After that it usually manages on its own, even in dry summers.

Feeding

In spring give a spadeful of compost or a little organic feed. On good soil this is not really necessary.

Mulching

A layer of compost or bark in spring keeps weeds down and the soil moist.

Fruits

Leave them on: they decorate the winter. Only cut them off if small children or pets play in the garden.

Seedlings

Young plants may appear around the shrub. Pull them out in spring if you do not want them.

Tip: An ideal shrub for a difficult spot: it also grows in shade and on dry soil. Leave the black fruits on for winter decoration, but cut them off if small children or pets play in the garden.

Jetbead: when to prune it?

Pruning months: February–March.

When: It needs little pruning. Thin it every few years in February–March, before it comes into leaf.

How:

• Remove dead, damaged or crossing branches completely.
• Every few years take out a few of the oldest branches at the base to keep the shrub young and airy.
• If you want to keep it smaller, cut the branches back to a side shoot after flowering, in June–July. You will then lose part of the fruits.

Caution: If you prune hard in summer, you lose the fruits. Keep prunings with fruits out of reach of children and pets.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Softwood cuttings

In June–July take cuttings of 10–15 cm from young shoots, remove the lower leaves and insert them in moist compost, under plastic or in a propagator. They usually root readily.

Hardwood cuttings

From November to February push cuttings of 20 cm of last year’s wood two-thirds into the ground in a sheltered spot. After a year most have rooted.

Seed

The seeds need a cold spell to germinate. Sow them in autumn in a pot and leave the pot outdoors over winter. Seedlings may differ from the parent plant.

Jetbead: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Fully hardy to about −30 °C: in Belgium no protection is needed.
• The black fruits stay on all winter and look good against bare branches and in hoar frost.
• Give young plants a mulch around the base in their first winter.

Diseases and pests

• Aphids: On young shoots in May–June. Rinse them off with water or let ladybirds and lacewings do the work.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves, mostly in a dry or stuffy spot. Water at the base, allow air to circulate and cut away affected shoots.
• Poor flowering: Usually too much shade or pruned too hard. Give it more light and do not prune too much after flowering.
• Self-sown seedlings: The fruits can self-seed. Pull up young plants in spring and remove the fruits if you want to limit this.

Through the year

• February: Thin out and cut away dead wood before the buds open.
• March: Thin out if needed. Plant. Give compost.
• April: The leaves unfold. Plant.
• May: Flowering begins. Bees visit.
• June: Flowering. Take softwood cuttings. If needed, lightly cut back after flowering.
• July: Water in prolonged drought. The fruits form.
• August: The fruits ripen and turn shiny black.
• October: Plant. Sow seed.
• November: Plant. Take hardwood cuttings.
• December: The black fruits decorate the bare branches.

Edible and useful

Not edible. The shiny black fruits of jetbead are poisonous: like the stones and pips of many plants in the rose family, the hard seeds inside contain compounds that can release cyanide. Chewing them can cause stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhoea, and dogs and cats fall ill from them too. The fruits, usually in fours, look like berries and stay on the branches all winter, often at a child’s height. Teach children that they are not for eating, cut them off where small children play, and keep dogs and cats away from fallen fruits. If any is swallowed, call a poison centre (in Belgium 070 245 245) or your doctor at once.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The scientific name means roughly ‘rose-like’ (Greek rhodon, rose, and typos, form). ‘Scandens’ means climbing, although the shrub itself does not climb.
• It is the only species in its genus: Rhodotypos has no close relatives within the genus.
• Most plants in the rose family have flowers with five petals; jetbead has only four.