Sure, many plants offer winter berries to brighten bare stems. We've all seen numerous iconic Cardinal-sitting-on-the-holly-branch holiday greeting cards. But what about bright purple berries NOW - two weeks before the first day of fall?

August and September! That is when my berries color up and make this vivid show. Clusters of bright purple berries decorate my graceful stems. The rest of the year I am a quiet plant, not needing much attention, even bending when riding lawn mowers zoom by. I am American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). 

I am native to the Southeastern U.S., with a structure and size similar to the old-fashioned forsythia and spirea. Like them, I am good at sheltering birds in my shrubby branches and providing cover for them on the ground below. As a native plant, my foliage can help raise tasty insects for birds and their babies, as well as provide berries for birds and other wildlife to eat.  

Just picture these bright, glossy berries against my wheat-golden fall leaves, and then along bare branches once those leaves fall. My berries may stay on the plant through fall and into the winter, but it is much more likely that the birds will eat them before too long.

Ooh, Ohh - visualize this scene! I can take sun to light shade, so imagine me on a woodland edge in morning sun and afternoon shade beside an Oakleaf Hydrangea My bloom clusters appear in spring, then her large bloom clusters in early summer. In fall her bold russet-red fall leaves would contrast beautifully next to my smaller golden leaves. Oh, we could create a symphony duet for months! 

You may see some beautyberry plants with white berries, bigger berries, burgundy foliage or smaller stature. Many of these are relatives of mine from Asia, such as Callicarpa dichotoma or Callicarpa bodinieri, or my Latin American relative, Callicarpa acuminata. New hybrids or cultivars suit various landscapes and personal tastes. You can see some available beautyberries here.  

Love, American Beautyberry
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