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The other beautyberries
As the shimmer of summer flowers gives way to the arrival of fall, beautyberries bring forth their colorful fruit clusters. The popular Welch’s Pink cultivar presents a calm display of lavender-pink berries.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
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A second life for seeds
Don’t throw away those leftover spring seeds. With proper storage, you can use them again next year.
Photo by L.A. Jackson
As the shimmer of summer flowers slowly fades into yesterday’s memories with the changing of seasons, its fleeting moments are replaced by catchy displays of such late-maturing, persistent garden partiers as beautyberries (Callicarpa spp.). These bushes spend the hottest months of the year slowly developing fancy fruit clusters, and now, it is their time to shine.
Snazzy purple has long been the tint most people associate with beautyberries—so much so that many gardeners have been lulled into thinking that it is the only color of this shrub’s fruit. However, recent introductions have brought new hues into play to make this easy-to-grow deciduous ornamental an even more versatile addition to any landscape setting.
For starters, the popular Welch’s Pink cultivar presents a calmer display of lavender-pink berries that visually soothe rather than sizzle. As a bonus, it is also restrained in size, generally having a lower profile (5 feet tall and wide) compared to other species of beautyberries. But, as is the case with all beautyberries, this shrub can be kept in check with an annual pruning in the late winter after berries have dried up or been gobbled up by hungry birds.
Gardeners looking for berries with even less color—but more twinkle—will be pleased to know that, yes, there are white-fruited cultivars available. Leucocarpa is one of the best known (meaning easiest to find) and for good reason. It is a beauty, with long-lasting, pleasing bands of white berries that will settle softly into a garden like autumn snowflakes.
Compared to the impressive displays of fruit on Leucocarpa, the white berries of Duet put on a sparse show, only lightly dusting this 4-foot-tall shrub late in the year. But it takes two to make the magic of a duet, and in this case, the sprite-like berries are complemented nicely with variegated leaves that have margins generously splashed in shades of deep cream, creating an eye-catching display in the garden from early spring until the fading of fall.
I have seen Welch’s Pink for sale at big-box home and garden centers, while the Leucocarpa and Duet beautyberries that grace my fall landscape were plain ol’ farmers’ market finds. If your local garden shop doesn’t have any of these selections on hand, it doesn’t hurt to ask if they can order them for you. In a pinch, you can also find these “other beautyberries” online.
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September in the Garden
• Beyond beautyberries, light up the fall garden even further by adding the colorful snap of such hardy plants as calendula, dusty miller, ornamental kale, flowering cabbage and pansy.
• Still harvesting and storing herbs? To speed up the process before winter sets in, herbs can be dried in the microwave. Place herbs between two paper towels and nuke ’em for one minute. If the leaves are not crisp, microwave them for a few more seconds until the leaves feel dry to the touch, then store them in an airtight container.
• Have a water garden? Make autumn cleanup easier by covering it with mesh netting to keep dropping leaves out of the pond.
• Before leaves begin to fall, examine your woody ornamentals for dead, diseased or damaged limbs and prune them off.
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Tip of the Month
If you have any packets of seeds left over because you were more than optimistic about your gardening capabilities this spring, save these plants-to-be for next year’s grow-show by putting the packs in an airtight container such as a jar or sealable plastic bag and tucking them away in the refrigerator until the 2019 planting season. Add a silica gel pack or teaspoon of powdered milk to the container to absorb moisture, which is a sure killer of seeds in storage. Most year-old seeds should be fairly viable, but their germination rate will probably be reduced, so simply sow the seeds a little more generously at planting time.
L.A. Jackson is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.