The native beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) should be an easy care, sturdy shrub with little effort. Should be, but I’ve managed to kill a few, I think due to careless placement where it tended to suffer from dry soils, and once, probably too much shade though cause of death is often not clear cut. As always, I now claim to have learned lessons, and certainly the newest beautyberry planted in spring will thrive.
Not to be too confident, I am a bit concerned by shallow maple roots, but I think it’s planted just far away enough that the soil will retain moisture and it won’t be too shaded. I know, I’ve failed repeatedly. Why should my word be trusted? In fact, stop reading now, or at least pay little attention to someone who has killed a foolproof native too many times.
Thankfully, I don’t kill everything. Most plants thrive in this garden with very little effort. The native soil is acceptable in this long ago cow pasture so that I do not amend it while planting. And with luck, rainfall is frequent enough that I rarely follow up to irrigate new plantings. And never fertilize. You would think otherwise if you saw the garden firsthand, and of course, evidence of the failed beautyberries is long gone.
A variety of non-native beautyberries are thriving in soils that I would now consider too damp and another that is in dry part shade that gave me confidence to plant the native in similar dryness. But, a long established shrub can tolerate dryness while a youngster needs some assistance (watering) to establish its roots.
I’ve had a few seedlings from the non-natives that I’ve potted up or transplanted along the forest’s edge. If they’re too shaded they’ll have few flowers and berries, and the shrubs are as unremarkable in leaf as a shrub can be, so it pays to give them at least a part sun location.
The beautyberries are excellent in the right spot where the berries can be enjoyed but the green shrub ignored. The flowers are small, but nice enough when the shrub is close by. A few cultivars have dark leaves, which is nice, and I’ve had a several with white berries though a few have been overwhelmed by neighbors and are no where to be found. A variegated form with white berries (Callicarpa dichitoma ‘Duet’, below) has never performed well, with few berries though this could be a result of part shade and soggy ground.
I’m very jealous of your soil quality. When we moved here the previous owners sometime in the distant past put down a layer of black plastic under everything (including areas of lawn) and 4-6 layers of landscape fabric on top of that. Any existing plant we dug up had a nice mat of roots in between those two and nothing going through the plastic into actual soil. And the soil under the plastic where we have removed it is as dead as dead can be. Been a long road trying to get it back to even halfway decent soil. So jealous!
You can only imagine what was once there. Kill it with black plastic, remove a year or more later then amend the soil with manure, soil and sand as well as wood chips a little at a time and you will have made it so much better. Mine was a wreck and now it is so amazing but I never quit just kept pushing my crippled body lol so now I can sit outside and enjoy life. We a product here called super soil it only works if they get the product hot enough to break do food waste. Start a compost pile and turn turn turn and spread that in an area you want to make gorgeous healthy soil. Also ask your local Extension if in the US.
Years ago, I was surprised to see that very little rain moved through weed barrier fabrics. I saw many people’s plants killed. I selected this home site because it was at the base of surrounding hills. The soil along the uphill edges is denser clay but in many areas I can easily dig.
I have one of these in my garden, but it has been swallowed up in what we call “the jungle” …a part of the yard that has lots of large trees. I hope it is still alive.
I’ve lost too many plants to more vigorous neighbors but the newest beautyberry is in front where it will never be endangered.
I do think those purple berries are just gorgeous!
It is the only bush I have yet to purchase thank you for reminding me 🙂
It’s a good one. I had to keep trying despite no room for another shrub.
Yes everything thrives here so I better give these their own spot. Do bears eat the berries do you know?
We’ve only spotted bears once but I suppose they would eat the berries that birds don’t get.
Are all of them cultivars, or do nurseries also sell the straight species? Mine were grown from wild seed, so are not cultivars. White is my favorite color, but I will not likely ever acquire a white beautyberry. They are so pretty in their pinkish purple color.