A Berry Good Year

November first is the feast of all saints or all hallows (All Hallows' eve or Halloween being the night before.)  All Saints is followed by All Souls Day and the two often get smushed together into one celebration of those we love and see no longer.  Today is also Dia de los muertos, a national holiday in Mexico and  celebrated around the world.  Day of the Dead comes from the All Saints tradition.   This is a beautiful and reflective time to remember fondly our beloved dead and to celebrate the fruits of their lives' labors.  Similarly, in the northern hemisphere, many of the plants in our gardens are slowing down, dying for a time and putting forth the final fruits of their all-too-brief time in the sun.  Here are a few of my garden's fruitful saints.

Pernettya mucronata,  which I first read about in Dan Hinkley's Winter Ornamentals,  will hold these beautiful fat purple berries for months.  In fact, these berries will hold on through next summer through the bush's blooming period and will only drop when the new berries take their place.  This is a great evergreen small shrub with multi-season interest  which I feel should be grown more frequently.  

Ilex verticillata, our native deciduous holly, sometimes called winterberry, will drop its leaves and hold its berries all winter long. The male and female in my garden came in tiny pots from Caroll Gardens many years ago and has only now attained sufficient size to  bloom and bear. 

Leycesteria formosa a.k.a. Himalayan Honeysuckle  looking wonderful as ever.  Find more images and information about this cool plant here.

 Phytolacca americana, a.k.a. Pokeweed, in it's autumn glory.  I know it's a weed and loves to seed everywhere but I don't have much trouble controlling it by pulling it up where it's not wanted. The stems of the entire 10 -15 foot plant turn that bright fuschia color you see at the top of the picture below in the fall and when the leaves turn color ther's quite a show with the berries, leaves and stems.  Added bonus - it shades out the impatiens glandulifera that someone thought would be a good idea to allow to grow in his garden.

 Berries at various stages of ripening.  These persist for much of the winter providing food for birds.

 Clerodendrum trichotomum berries.  That turquoise color is way cool and fairly rare in the plant world and is always a delight to the eye.

Some viburnum or other.

Callicarpa americana

Pyracantha looks sweet but has delightful thorns.

Dichroa febrifuga berries will look like this in a month or so.

Hips of Rosa rugosa 'Yankee Lady'

Ilex aquifolium or English holly is a bit invasive here. I let a couple of plants live outside of the fence in the alley; it's evergreen and the prickly leaves keep folks from wanting to climb the fence.

Physalis alkekengi or Chinese lantern plant's cheerful orange color and fat shape always make me smile.



Hypericum

Arum italicum which blooms in the spring, sets seed and goes dormant for the summer.  At this time of year, the seeds have ripened and put on quite a show for a month or so already and the beautiful new foliage emerges.  This will be green and fresh looking all winter long. 

Happy All Saints' Day!