Gems Of July

July 5, 2026

Indeed gems of the July woods up here. Wineberries (Rubus phoenicolasius). But, these berries are native to Japan, Korea, and China, and were brought to the United States in the 1890s for raspberry breeding. They’re now highly invasive in most of the eastern United States and the Mid-Atlantic region.

My family and I are doing what we can to diminish the amount of seeds that spread the plants, by gathering the delicious berries while they are ripe. They’re great on cereal, or on ice cream, but our favorite way to use them is to make them into Wineberry ice cream.

Pure yumminess.

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Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.