Wintergreen Plant Care Learn About Wintergreen Growing Conditions

Wintergreen plants perform best in light to full shade in areas with cool summers. The plants do not enjoy hot, humid conditions, suffer in drought and dislike overly wet, boggy soils.

How do I care for a wintergreen plant?

Growing Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens)

LIGHT: To keep Wintergreen happy indoors, give it bright light but little direct sun. ...
TEMPERATURE: Wintergreen prefers cool temperatures of about 60-70°F.
WATERING: Keep the soil fairly moist, watering when the top 1/2 inch of potting mix is dry to the touch.
FERTILIZING: Fertilizing is seldom necessary.

Is Wintergreen a perennial?

'Gaultheria procumbens' or Wintergreen is a wonderful new perennial this year that is absolutely stunning. A handsome low-growing evergreen perennial with dark oval leaves and pinkish-white flowers followed by bright red edible berries.

Can you grow Wintergreen indoors?

When you are growing wintergreen indoors, maintain a temperature of 60 degrees F. (16 C.) or less if possible. ... You'll also want to give your wintergreen houseplants enough water to keep their soil fairly moist. On the other hand, if you have a wintergreen plant indoors, don't worry too much about fertilizer.

How tall does Wintergreen grow?

Wintergreen is often used as a ground cover and will grow to a height of approximately 6 inches, showing fragrant pink blossoms in early summer.

How do you propagate Wintergreen?

Wintergreen plants spread by creeping rhizomes, and as such, are easy to propagate by division or cuttings. Stems will form new roots as they spread along the ground. Cut one of these new stem sections with roots attached and replant. You may also take a tip cutting from new growth in the spring.

What can you do with wintergreen leaves?

The edible berries have been used in many recipes, and the leaves can be used to make a wintergreen flavored tea, cordial, or extract. The minty flavor comes from the chemical methyl salicylate, produced by the plant.

Do birds eat wintergreen berries?

Several species of birds consume Wintergreen, including Wild Turkey and Ring-necked Pheasant. Ruffed Grouse consume Wintergreen's fruit, buds, and leaves.

Is Wintergreen plant poisonous?

Poisonous: Yes, in quantity. Wintergreen essential oil has been known to cause fatalities through both ingestion and excessive topical use.

Are wintergreen leaves edible?

Wintergreen is a perennial evergreen shrub that is native to eastern North America, and usually is found in woodland and exposed mountainous areas. Its small, waxy, white or pale pink flowers bloom in late summer, developing a red fruit. The leaves and fruits are edible.

Is Wintergreen plant deer resistant?

A large percentage of the most deer-resistant ground covers are highly invasive species, but here is a short list of those that can be used responsibly in the landscape. Eastern teaberry, also called wintergreen, is native to cold-weather climates of the eastern U.S., where it forms extensive mats in the forest.

What does a wintergreen plant look like?

Wintergreen plants have creeping underground stems from which small reddish stalks grow, normally less than 6 in (15 cm) high. Wintergreen leaves are spoon-shaped and less than 0.5 in (1 cm) in length. They are bright green, shiny, and have a leathery appearance.

Can you eat gaultheria berries?

The fruits of G. procumbens, considered its actual "teaberries", are edible, with a taste of mildly sweet wintergreen similar to the flavors of the Mentha varieties M. ... Teaberry extract can be used to flavor tea, candy, medicine and chewing gum. Teaberry is also a flavor of ice cream in regions where the plant grows.

Is Wintergreen an herb?

Wintergreen is an herb. Wintergreen oil is made by steam processing of warmed, water-soaked wintergreen leaves. The leaves and oil are used to make medicine. ... In manufacturing, wintergreen is used as a flavoring agent in food, candies, teas, root beer, and in pharmaceutical products.

Where can I find Wintergreen?

Wintergreen is often found in poor, acidic soil, and we find it under white pines or in moss, and in mixed forests. It ranges from Newfoundland through New England, across the Great Lakes and down to Alabama. We pick the leaves individually, only gathering one leaf from each stem.

What is oil of wintergreen used for?

Wintergreen oil is made by steam processing of warmed, water-soaked wintergreen leaves. The leaves and oil are used to make medicine. Wintergreen leaf is used for painful conditions including headache, nerve pain (particularly sciatica), arthritis, ovarian pain, and menstrual cramps.

Is Wintergreen good for your stomach?

It is also used for digestion problems including stomachache and gas (flatulence); lung conditions including asthma and pleurisy; pain and swelling (inflammation); fever; and kidney problems. Some people use small doses of wintergreen oil to increase stomach juices and improve digestion.

Is Wintergreen in the mint family?

Wintergreen is not actually a member of the mint family, instead being from the family gaultheria. Beyond that, varieties can vary near infinitely based on subtle changes in chemical composition.

Can you make tea from wintergreen leaves?

American Wintergreen

Its therapeutic benefits are real, because it contains an aspirin-like compound. When brewed, oil forms on the surface which contains a toxin that should be poured off. If you can't find wintergreen, the twigs and leaves of a young birch tree can be steeped into a tea that tastes like wintergreen.

What flavor is Wintergreen?

Wintergreen has a strong "minty" odor and flavor; however, the Gaultheria-genus plants are not true mints, which belong to the genus Mentha.

Is Teaberry the same as wintergreen?

Wintergreen (G. procumbens), also called checkerberry or teaberry, is a creeping shrub with white bell-shaped flowers, spicy red fruits, and aromatic shiny leaves. ... hispidula) is a mat-forming evergreen with small pointed leaves that give a spicy odour when crushed.