Elaeagnus ‘Quicksilver’

Elaeagnus ‘Quicksilver’

You can find this fabulous shrub below the roundel on our Main Borders. It is particularly stunning in July with the most beautiful fragrance emanating from its small but perfectly formed, pale yellow flowers.

Vital statistics

Common name

Oleaster

Family

Elaeagnaceae

Height & spread

Up to 5m (17ft) x 4m (13ft) wide

Form

Deciduous shrub

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil

Aspect

Full sun

Hardiness

Fully hardy

Elaeagnus

The oleasters, Elaeagnus, comprise a genus of around 45 species of deciduous or evergreen shrubs or trees mainly Asia but a few from S. Europe and North America.

Elaeagnus are cultivated for their often silvery leaves, which are alternate and lance-shaped to ovate or oblong and for the small, sometimes intensely fragrant flowers, produced in clusters from the leaf axils. The flowers are followed by edible, sometimes colourful berries, 1-2.5cm long.

Grown in shrub borders or as specimen shrubs, the evergreens are also suitable as a hedge or screening plant. The Elaeagnus x ebbingei cultivars, ‘Limelight’ and ‘Gilt Edge’ are widely cultivated for their variegated evergreen leaves. 

Elaeagnus ‘Quicksilver’

Elaeagnus ‘Quicksilver’ is a vigorous growing, pyramidal, spiny shrub or small tree, probably of hybrid origin. One of its parent species Elaeagnus angustifolia is native to western and central Asia, from S. Russia and Kazakhstan to Turkey and Iran.

‘Quicksilver’ has a spreading habit with open branches and silvery shoots; elliptic to lance-shaped, tapered, very silvery-scaly leaves to 5cm long. The dense silver scales catch the light, looking very bright in sunshine. In summer, from silvery buds, it produces small, yellowish-white, four-petalled flowers. The flowers are very sweetly scented and  followed by olive-like yellow fruits in the autumn. 

Cultivation

• Best grown in shrub borders or as a specimen shrub in a fertile, well-drained soil, ideally in full sun.
• It will tolerate dry soil and coastal winds. While it will grow in acid, alkaline and neutral pH soils, it is not recommended for poor, shallow, chalk soils.
• Plants are fast-growing and best left to develop as a large, multi-stemmed bush with minimal intervention or trained as a standard with a clear stem to a height of 1.2-1.5m. Can tolerate hard pruning.
• Prune in midsummer, after flowering. Elaeagnus is susceptible to the fungal disease coral spot, mostly found on damaged branches; once established this can cause further dieback of branches and so should be promptly pruned out, cutting back to healthy tissue. Always prune in dry weather and dispose of dead material. 

Propagation

• Sow seed in a cold frame in autumn.
• Take semi-ripe cuttings in midsummer.
• Remove rooted suckers in autumn.

AGM

The RHS Woody Plant Committee awarded Elaeagnus ‘Quicksilver’ an Award of Garden Merit with the description:

'Large, spiny deciduous shrub with silvery-scaly, ovate leaves and small, fragrant creamy-yellow flowers.'