American beautyberry bush is a flexible, easy-to-grow native shrub that birds love. Plant it in zones 6 to 10 and luxuriate in flowers and berries.
I by no means tire of recommending American beautyberry bush (Callicarpa americana) for southeastern native gardens—it’s the shrub that retains on giving. Within the spring, this terrific native shrub has delicate pink flowers, which yield clusters of sensible purple berries within the late summer season and fall.
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American Beautyberry Bush Care

This can be a well-liked shrub with gardeners, as a result of it’s very straightforward to develop and practically each native plant nursery carries it. It tolerates full solar and full shade, and grows rapidly in dry and moist soils alike. I’ve but to study of an surroundings in zones 6 to 10 the place American beautyberry bush doesn’t work. In a wilder panorama, you may depart these bushes to develop naturally to a reasonably leggy tall stature topping out round 15 to twenty ft. In a smaller or extra manicured panorama, prune them closely in late winter to encourage bushier development.
American beautyberries are simply acknowledged in autumn. Shiny purple berries that birds adore seem in clusters, and the leaves begin to flip yellow and orange.
American beautyberry bush flowers and the next berries develop on the junction the place leaves meet stem. The blooms should not notably aromatic or showy, and don’t appear to be be a giant nectar draw like some others, however they’re very fairly up shut. The berries persist all through the winter, even when the leaves are gone, offering meals for birds and a supply of colour within the winter panorama.
Try extra berry bushes and shrubs that birds love.
Details About American Beautyberry Bush

- The leaves of the plant, when crushed, yield oils that function a pure insect repellent to repel mosquitoes.
- The berries are edible, though pretty bland. Some say beautyberry jelly is scrumptious, although I’ve by no means tried any.
- A white-berried cultivar (C. Americana var. lactea) is obtainable at some native plant nurseries.
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Ask the Consultants: Beautyberry Bushes
“Are you able to establish this shrub (above) I noticed in northwest Arkansas final fall? It was about 5 ft tall and rising close to a stream,” asks Birds & Blooms reader Debi Wadel of Richards, Missouri.
Horticultural knowledgeable Melinda Myers: This eye-catching shrub is beautyberry (Callicarpa). The American beautyberry (Zones 6 to 11) is native in many of the southeastern U.S., Mexico and the West Indies. Japanese beautyberry is usually utilized in landscapes and is hardy in Zones 5 to eight. Each favor full solar to gentle shade and well-draining soil. The pink or white flowers seem in summer season and are adopted by lovely violet-purple (nearly metallic) berries.
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“I discovered this thriller plant (above) deep within the woods. What might it’s?” asks Jim Abe of Union Mills, North Carolina.
Melinda: The attention-catching, colourful fruit impressed this plant’s widespread title: American beautyberry. It’s native from southwest Maryland to North Carolina and Arkansas, then south to Mexico and the Caribbean. Beautyberry prefers full solar, is drought-tolerant as soon as established and grows to eight ft tall. It’s hardy in Zones 6 to 11. Lavender-pink flowers seem in the summertime, adopted by vibrant purple fruit. It’s associated to Japanese and purple beautyberries, which you may also discover at nurseries.
Subsequent, take a look at 14 methods to create a bird-friendly backyard and yard.