Junipers (Juniperus spp) are evergreen plants that are found in many shapes, sizes and colors. They can range from groundcovers to shrubs to tree forms and are widely adaptable to environmental conditions. Because of the tremendous variability within the genus, junipers can be grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 9. Though junipers do have blooms, the flowers are inconspicuous and generally not thought of as an ornamental feature.
Junipers are considered conifers and, as such, don't produce true flowers. Instead, they produce seed in a structure made up of modified leaves called bracts that become the cone. Most junipers are classified as dioecious, which means that male and female plant parts occur on separate plants. The male pollen cones are small and almost unnoticeable until they turn yellow as they produce pollen. Female juniper plants make the cones that produce seeds and are more easily recognized by their production of berry-like cones.
Junipers produce pollen cones or flowers on male plants to pollinate female plants and produce seed. The major production of this pollen occurs in late winter into early spring -- January through April. Some junipers will have a second bloom time that occurs in the fall and can last from September though December.
While male juniper flowers are not very showy, the fruiting structures of the female plant can be quite ornamental when produced in quantity. The fruits of female junipers look like berries but are in fact soft fleshy cones. The cones are green at first but will ripen to a blue to purple color. Birds are attracted to the fruits as a food source and help in dispersing the seeds. These same fruits are often used as the distinctive flavoring for gin.
During the blooming season junipers can produce copious quantities of pollen. Because the pollen grains are generally disseminated by the wind, they cause allergic reactions in many people. The Weather Channel reports that in some areas during the blooming season each person inhales hundreds of juniper pollen grains with every breath. In fact, pollen production can be so heavy at times that clouds of pollen can be seen drifting like smoke.
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