Purple Pearls beautyberry. Photo courtesy Proven Winners
If you are looking for a shrub that will perk up the fall season, check out beautyberry.
Although beautyberry (Callicarpa spp.) blooms in early summer, the tiny whitish-pink flowers are not showstoppers. What follows this time of year, though, is what earns this plant its name.
There’s a native beautyberry (C. americana), which is root hardy to USDA Zone 6 (minus 10 degrees), and does well in southern and central Indiana. The Asian beautyberry (C. dichotoma) hybrids are hardy in USDA Zone 5 (minus 20 degrees).
The native beautyberry gets up to about 6 feet tall and has large pinkish-purple berries along its arching stems. Asian hybrids come in several sizes, including smaller ones that mix well with perennials or other shrubs, with lush, purple berries. A Japanese species (C. japonica) gets 4-6 feet tall and wide. There’s also a native white-fruited beautyberry.
Beautyberry is very adaptable, but does best in full sun to part shade and average, well-drained soil. It is considered deer resistant. Beautyberry tolerates some drought, but may get leggy if growing in too much shade. I have ‘Issai’ growing in quite a bit of shade and it seems to do fine. The one in the sun, though, seems a bit more vigorous.
‘Early Amethyst’ beautyberry shows its fall colors. Photo courtesy Monrovia
It’s is common for this plant to die back in winter, which is all right, because beautyberry blooms on current season grown. I usually prune it back to 6-8 inches high in late winter or early spring.
The fruiting branches can be cut for indoor, fall arrangements or left on the plant for the birds.
‘Early Amethyst’ beautyberry, which gets 3-4 feet tall and wide, turns a golden yellow in fall, which makes the purple berries pop even more
‘Issai’ beautyberry gets 3-4 feet tall and 4-5 feet wide.
‘Profusion’ is the largest one, at 6 feet tall and wide. Its fruit produces in large clumps.
One of the new introductions from Proven Winners/ColorChoice is Purple Pearls. It has purple tinged leaves, and gets 4-5 feet tall and wide.
