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Thursday, October 15, 2009

A Tribute to Berries - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

When trees and other garden blooms begin to go dormant this time of year, other plants begin to peak in color. I try to be creative in my own garden and constantly work to add color throughout the year. One of my favorite ways to do this is with berries. Berries add an extra dimension to the garden. Berries of every color enhance the backdrop for the upcoming winter months; and as a bonus, they attract and provide food for many birds.

Winter holly has to top the list. This time of year they drop their leaves and leave a massive amount of red berries. This particular variety is 'Sparkleberry'.

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I purchased several of these last fall, and as you can see, they are doing very well.

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Another winter deciduous holly in my garden is 'Winter Gold'. These berries start out bright orange and slowly turn to yellow as the season progresses.

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Next is my coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). They are not normally known for their berries but it's hard not to notice. Coral honeysuckle berries begin to appear in late summer and serve as a juicy food source for birds and other wildlife.

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Here's a new shrub (small tree) I planted this summer - Harlequin Glorybower (Clerodendron trichotomum). This large deciduous shrub offers a late-summer display of jasmine-like white flowers encased in red tepals . Bright blue berries in fall are accented by bright, pinkish-red calyxes.

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Nandina 'compacta' is another heavy berry producer. These berries will be bright red by Thanksgiving. They're great to use in a holiday decorations.

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This is a favorite in the landscape at the moment - 'Winter King Hawthorne' (Crataegus viridis). Winter king is a small deciduous tree that features white flowers in spring that turn reddish in fall. Small, crabapple-like fruits mature in fall to a bright red and persist throughout the winter, or until the birds get to them.

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Last but not least is the American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). It's known for its vibrant purple berries that form in tight clusters up and down its branches. The one I have (below) has become a victim of bird food; but if you look closely you can see a few berries still holding on.

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Now that I've covered the berries in my garden here's a few of the other blooms still around.

Coreopsis - I believe this is 'Moonbeam'. This is a very tough plant that re-seeds itself in my garden each year.

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Russian Sage is another tough, drought tolerant plant.

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Hyssop, 'Blue Fortune' - a favorite of the butterflies and bees.

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A mix of Lantana - 'Miss Huff' and 'New Gold'. These provide long lasting blooms.

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A few blooms still on my Kaleidoscope abelias.

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Be sure to check out more flowers in bloom over at May Dreams Gardens blog - there's lots of good stuff to to see there!

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16 comments:

Les said...

For some reason, a few of your plants look familiar to me. I got to see a stand of Winterberry this weekend growing wild along the Potomac. It is the first time I ever noticed them in a natural setting, I just wish I had room for a couple.

Unknown said...

Your garden is lovely and thank you for sharing the berries. I may have to reference this and go back to some photos I took so I can put the right name in.

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Great berries Alan! Sparkleberry is sure a nice one to have for winter color. The Hawthorne is a bit too thorny for me...we have one in the Learning Garden...big thorns! Great Glorybower too!
Happy GBBD!

Dirt Princess said...

I love to use berries in arrangements this time of the year. Nice post

Darla said...

Great variety of berries, now let's see how 'you' use them in decoarating! Your flowers are beautiful, Miss Huff you say? I like that! Thanks for the ID.

Dave said...

I definitely want some of those hollies for our garden. They've been on the list for a couple years now, just never got around to getting them. Our beautyberry is still covered with berries. There must be plenty of food out there for the birds right now.

Dawn Fine said...

Great plants with beautiful berries..always nice to attract birds to your area.
Nice post Alan.

Mary Delle LeBeau said...

Love your variety of berries. I don't have the room for them, but love seeing yours.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

What a great post with all of the berries. I just planted a Beautyberry recently. I'd love to add holly, but I think you need two to cross pollinate and I don't have room.
Your flowers are looking great, you still have a lot blooming.

Anonymous said...

I have almost all the same ones you do. I don't have that lovely row of lantana though.

cindyzlogic said...

Alan, you have a gorgeous garden! Thank you so much for sharing the photos and labeling each flower/plant.

Roses and Lilacs said...

I have been considering adding more berry plants that have fruit ripening in autumn. I have several American cranberries planted for the birds but they don't seem interested in them.

Enjoyed the posts about late season crops. I'll wait and see if my chard comes back next spring. Also enjoyed the post about the rattle snake. I've always heard them called timber rattlers. Had a few of them in Alabama when I lived there and I believe I've seen them in Wisconsin also.
Marnie

April Lorier said...

Allen, I couldn't help but think all of these beautiful berries would sure make a beautiful painting! :-D

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed learning about the berries in your garden, Alan. I think they not only function to feed birds but provide great color and excitement to the garden in the winter. I have a post mentioning beatyberries right now, too. Haha. Take care!

- Moria

Dawn Fine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dawn Fine said...

i just wanted to leave you this link..my sister works for Big Bloomers flower farm..Are you familiar with it..they have many plants u may not be able to get most places.
http://www.bigbloomersflowerfarm.com/