The Bittersweet Lady

I have always loved bittersweet. It was often sold in greenhouses and fall markets. I haven't seen it lately though. A woman acquaintance lived in the country and had bittersweet growing everywhere on her property. I made an annual stop at her place to buy it each year. I loved stopping on her country road and walking through the crisp leaves that had fallen on her lawn. Acorns were everywhere and the smell of bonfires was in the air. She always had time to visit and once in a while her husband would join us. This was a full time job for her in the fall. Picking the bittersweet, trimming it into bunches, tying it with jute, and pricing it. She was always home.. in case a customer would stop.....because signs were posted at the beginning and end of her road.

I tried to grow bittersweet. It was a never ending attempt. First I planted one plant....the next year they told me to plant two....male and female....the next year...it was in the wrong location. Isn't this the plant that grows wild almost everywhere in the country? Try as I could....it is something that I never could do. I resorted to buying bunches of it every year.

One year we took a trip to Iowa. I found bittersweet there and told my husband that I was so glad that we found it along the way. I remember him saying, "That's a long way to drive for a bunch of berries."

I have kept bittersweet from year to year. Such care was taken...wrapping it in tissue and hanging it from the rafters in a brown paper bag. Everytime I pull it out the berries fall off. I finally have to toss it, because there are only stems left. 

Now, I live far away from the woman called the Bittersweet Lady. I haven't tried growing it here...yet. So, I'll start my search in this part of the state....to find another place to buy it. I will probably find it at some greenhouse or store....it won't be the same as buying it from the Bittersweet Lady on the country road.

Balisha