American Beautyberry 

Callicarpa americana

20% OFF THROUGH SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST

1 GALLON POTS ARE NOW $16.00!!

American beautyberry is a fast growing, native, deciduous shrub mostly known for the magnificent violet-magenta berry display in late September and early October.  The bright berries are a color not often seen in nature and their arrangement of tight clusters around the leaf nodes are just as unusual. While not one for stunning fall color, the anemic looking green leaves will quickly turn yellow before abscission, but the loss of leaves unveil the colorful, bright berries.  The shrub is high-impact visually, a trait that benefits both the viewer and wildlife when planted en masse.  

Since the blooms and berries are borne on new growth, pruning is best done in late winter before leafing out.  Prune down to 6-18” from ground if you’d like to keep the shrub looking its best.  If left unchecked, the shrub can reach up to 8 feet tall and wide.  American beautyberry does tend to get a little scraggly as it ages and benefits from a cleanup each year with removal of dead limbs at the very least.  

American beautyberry is considered a pioneer species, often appearing in open areas after land is cleared. This makes it an exceptional beneficial species as it provides a source of nutrient dense food for birds, mammals, and other wildlife in a landscape that could be going through transition and may not have a bounty of food or shelter at that moment in time. Nectar and pollen in early summer blooms attract native bees and butterflies. Pioneer species are generally tough plants that can handle volatile conditions. 

Beautyberry is highly tolerant of fire, drought (once established), and heavy browsing by animals. But with the hardy traits comes an intolerance of shade, so it often declines when mid-story vegetation is dense. When planting in the landscape make sure to keep the shrub at the edge of the woods or in open areas.  

American beautyberry is a host plant for the rustic sphinx moth, spring azure butterflies, and snowberry clearwing moths. The fruit are high in moisture content, protein, and fat and provide food to over forty species of songbirds including American robin, cedar waxwings, warblers, finches, and the eastern towhee as well as mammals including armadillo, foxes, opossum, racoon, and squirrels. The fat content in the berries means amazing fuel for migrating birds in fall and winter when the fruit are present. American beautyberry has 70% fat content in the berries--as a comparison spicebush has 50% and native dogwoods have 25%. Asian beautyberries only have somewhere around 5% fat content.  

Asian beautyberries were introduced to the US in 1845 and are often found in commercial and home landscapes. Not only are they considered invasive, but they can also hybridize with our native beautyberry. The hybridization can weaken the berries' nutritional value, favorable nesting habitat, palatability to host caterpillars, decrease berry size and the overall genetic strength of our native American beautyberry. You can identify Asian beautyberries by their looser fruit clusters that dangle further from the stem and ripen much earlier than the American species (August/early September). The branches on the Asian species are longer and weeping in habit and do not support nesting as much as the native species.

One American beautyberry shrub can bear 3-5 pounds of fruit in one season and it’s not just enjoyed by wildlife, but humans as well! The fruit is not juicy, but more of a pithy pulp with a mild sweet taste with spicy notes, similar to Asian five spice. Harvest when the fruit tastes best after nighttime temps have dipped in the low 40s, but before fruit has experienced multiple freezes. You can find several recipes online for extracting the juice and making jelly. 

NAME:

Callos means “beauty” and carpos means “fruit”. 

NATIVE RANGE:

Distributed through the southeastern United States from Texas east to Maryland.  It grows in the Caribbean and northern Mexico, too.

FUN FACT:

American beautyberry has antibacterial and pest-deterring properties. Native American tribes used roots, leaves and branches to treat malarial fevers, rheumatism, stomachaches and dysentery. In the early 20th century, farmers would crush the leaves and place them under the harnesses of horses and mules to repel mosquitoes. Crushing leaves and rubbing on your skin can also deter fire ants, ticks, deer flies and mosquitoes.  Some people are allergic to the hairy leaves and it may cause contact dermatitis--make sure you’re not allergic before applying directly to your skin. The two compounds responsible for the repellant are callicarpenal and intermedeol.  

GROWING CONDITIONS:

• SOIL: 

  Prefers well-drained, moist soil rich in organic matter, but can tolerate sand or clay soils, too. Appreciates mulch to help keep roots protected and moist while becoming established. Handles a wide range of pH levels (4.8-7.0).

• SUNLIGHT:

  Full sun is best for fruit production, but can tolerate light shade

• HEIGHT/WIDTH: 

  3-8’ tall and wide--size can be easily managed with pruning in late winter/early spring

• ZONES: 

  (6)7-10 – American beautyberry is intolerant to cold temperatures in single digits or below, especially in younger more susceptible plants. If growing in zone 6, planting in a container and moving under cover in the winter could be beneficial.

  
  

White Fringetree

Chionanthus virginicus

1 GALLON POTS $22

3 GALLON POTS $30

Fringetree is a small, deciduous tree that makes a big impact in the landscape. Large, glossy, dark green leaves turn yellow-bronze in fall adding a bit of color to autumn. In late-spring both the male and female trees are adorned with wispy, strap-like, lightly fragrant, creamy white blooms. It won’t take long for your fringe tree to provide ornamental value-– they’re known to bloom at an early age, usually only after 2-3 years of age!

This species is dioecious, meaning each tree is either a male or a female, and both need to be present while blooming to produce fruit. The flowers are pollinated by various bee species. It is difficult to determine whether a specific tree is a male or female at the flowering stage as the flowers exhibit both male and female parts, but are functionally unisexual. Male flowers tend to have larger blooms leading to a showier bloom display--most cultivars tend to be male for this reason. The best way to indicate the sex of a fringe tree at the nursery is by the presence of fruit, which would be on females only. 

Fringe tree is in the Oleaceae (Olive) family, along with lilacs, ash, jasmine, forsythia, and olives. The fruits are olive-like drupes that ripen from green to a dark blue fruit. The fruit is eaten by several songbirds and by the pileated woodpecker, wild turkey, and white-tailed deer. The fringe-tree sallow (Sympisis chionanthi) is an owlet moth that uses fringe tree as a larval host plant.

NAME: 

Greek chion means “snow” and anthos  means “flower”

Other common names include “Grancy Graybeard” (“grancy” being another name for Grandpa), “Old Man’s Beard” or “Granddaddy Graybeard”

NATIVE RANGE: 

Southern New Jersey to Florida and west to Texas

FUN FACT: 

Native Americans, pioneers, and Appalchian folk herbalists used the bark in various preparations to treat a number of maladies, including skin issues.  Modern herbalists continue to use it today.

NOT-SO-FUN FACT:  

Fringe tree is in the same family as Ash – and is also at risk from the Emerald Ash borer, though it is not EAB’s first choice.  If the fringe tree is healthy and unstressed it can survive the attack.

GROWING CONDITIONS:

• SOIL:

  Thrives in moist, fertile soil, but can tolerate clay soil and some drought once established.

• SUNLIGHT:

  Full sun to part shade – best foliage is achieved in part shade, but best flowers are achieved in full sun

• HEIGHT/WIDTH:

  12-20’ tall and wide – large shrub or small tree.  Oval or wide-spreading shape.  Commonly found with multiple trunks, but easily trained to single trunk.  Average growth is 6-10” per year.

• ZONES:

  3-9