male and female juniper bushes

[L. Wakefield]

   And for the weirdest question of the evening.
..

  AS y'all know, I am in pursuit of the wild and aromatic to distill. I have done juniper (needle and branch)- and have been quite pleased with it. However, the article of commerce is often a distillate of fermented juniper berries. When I read up on juniper in the Maine tree book, it states that 'only some bushes have berries'- because they are dioecious. I did a survey this evening and 3 of my bushes do show berries. But if I should want to gather and ferment the berries (how?)- on the long term, I'd like to be able to id male vs female. Plant the 2 together and voila- happy family with loadsa berries.

  Was anyone tortured in botany class to the extent that they retain such a tidbit of juniper erotica? (OK, that's not quite right but you know what I mean..)

  When I eyeballed the bushes this evening, I was unable to tell any difference. It could be like holly trees- one male will suffice for all the females in a fairly wide radius. I dunno- but I'm asking.   lw

[DanG]

Gee, I dunno, L. You might try something unorthodox, since you seem to be leaning in that direction, anyway.

Fer instance, when my daughter was about 2 or 3, we were walking down the street and came upon a small, female dog. The dog rolled over on her back, as some of them will, and the kid says, "That's a girl doggie, Daddy."  Says I, "Well how do you know that?"   She exclaimed, "Because her tummy is PINK, silly!"

Maybe you're just looking for the wrong thing.