Vitis girdiana, Desert Grape

Desert Grape

A fast growing native dessert grape.  It is native to Southern California and the Channel Islands.  A ground cover or vine with small tasty fruit that can grow up to 50 feet.  It has green white flowers that bloom in the spring followed by small purple grapes.  The fruit can be eaten, dried, or made into wine.  It is deciduous in the winter.  The best time to prune is in the winter.  You should prune back hard in the winter.  It is not recommended to allow the vine to grow through lattice or chain link fences because the stems will be strangled or break by the small openings.  These grapes are susceptible to Pierce’s disease, the bacteria Xylella fastidosa clogs the vascular tissue.  Your plant will wilt and die back with foaming cankers, unfortunately there isn’t a cure for this.