Winter Approaching - Male and Female Seaberry / Seabuckthorn are Budding!

Hello, Hello! You are visitor number 52,113! I am a very lucky guy so many people have a curiosity about Hippophae Rhamnoides L.-- Seabuckthorn.

My plants, both the purchased ones and the plants grown from seabuckthorn seed look like they will be  producing seaberries next year.   For the first time!  As many of you already know, there is a  commitment of time with growing Seabuckthorn.  My first post was in February of 2010, soon to be three years ago.  I have learned so much along the way and I hope you all have enjoyed reading, commenting, and contributing.  I have absolutely enjoyed you being here!  If you ever have any comments, advice, or stories to pass along, I post all comments that are not simply advertisements.  

One of the most popular postings was titled How Do I Tell the Sex of a Seaberry / Seabuckthorn Plant?
The question:  Do I have a male or female seabuckthorn plant? is a good one and not all that easy to answer until you have berries on the bush.  In the linked post just mentioned, I talked about the differences in the flowers between the male and female plants.  The Seabuckthorn flower photo's are from Larry_Gene and appear here again in this post. 

Female Seabuckthorn flowers (above)

Male Seabuckthorn flowers (above)

Here is a new question.   Can you tell the sex of the Seabuckthorn from looking closely at the buds as they form in the fall of the year?  If we are able to do this, it could be very useful with fall transplanting and placing the correct ratio of male/female in the orchard.  Most importantly, the information would be nearly a year earlier that waiting for the berries to appear for the first time.  

This is what I have to share of my observations here in mid-October in Massachusetts, USA (Latitude 43° ).

Fall Male Seabuckthorn Flower Buds

Male

Male

These photos are from a purchased and labeled plant from the nursery as male.  They were received in the spring of 2010.  

 Fall Female Seabuckthorn Flower Buds

Female

female

These photos of the female flower buds were taken from purchased and labeled plants from the nursery.  

 Unsexed Seabuckthorn Flower Buds

The following photos are from plants grown from seed.  They have a 50% chance of being male or female.  I have numbered each photo and indicated my best assessment.  Please add yours in the comment section.

1.female?

2.female?

3.female?

4.male?

5. male?

6. male?

 I'll admit, I am not sure.  My choices were based on the amount of scales on the bud.  The males have  been reported to have more than the females.  If you have some producing plants at your home or farm, please take a look and weigh in on this question.  Thanks so much!

Sammy from Upstate New York writes:  I made a marinade with extra virgin olive oil, seaberry juice, basil, and then I minced some chives,bruised them with the back of a spoon and  mixed the whole thing adding a little salt and ground pepper.   I marinated tilapia fish and then broiled it.  What do you think?

Mr. Sammy-

You are a genius!  Julia Child would have been very proud.  Keep at it!