-

-
Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

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!

20 comments:

  1. That's quite a collection of colorful berries. "Berry" nice indeed. Some of these I haven't heard of around here either.

    Dia de los Muertos is celebrated here with many small stands popping up to sell colorful wreaths and remembrances. We also have a parade and lots of businesses are decked out in flowers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Dia de los Muertos in Texas sounds way cool. Here there are a few celebrations and some small shops carry decorations but nothing like what you describe. I love all the skeletion stuff!

      Delete
  2. Wowzer! wonderful collection of berry producing plants. Absolutely adore the Pernettya mucronata. Not hardy here, wah... And that blue of the Dichroa febrifuga is unreal. glorious. They don't even look real. Great post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That blue is spectacular & I'm hoping to see it this year! Glad you liked the post.

      Delete
  3. Berries are great for giving some extra colour to the garden during the colder months. They don't always extend right till the latter part of winter but they do tend to give a good display at the earlier part.

    Happy All Saints Day! And thanks for reminding me of 'all saints day'...it's easy enough to just think of Halloween and not the others..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The only berry that (for me) persists right through until the next berry production is the pernettya which for it's beautiful year-round purple color has become a favorite.

      And tomorrow is All Souls' Day. Hope yours is happy.

      Delete
  4. You have some wonderful berries! If I ever get up enough energy to grow a rose, it would be a Rosa glauca for the hips and blue-ish leaves. I cannot get my Arum flowers to go to seed. They just wither away and never form those beautiful red clusters. And I had no idea that Himalayan Honeysuckle formed berries, I'll have to go take a look st mine!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. My Arum didn't do much for a few years & then they really started producing. Something must like eating them because they are popping up in places other than where they were planted.

      Leycesteria formosa - Yup, it's one of the outstanding features of the shrub. The berries stat at the top of the cluster while the bottom is still blooming.

      Delete
  5. Seriously? All those gorgeous berries are in your garden? Very impressive collection, your lot must be very popular with the local wildlife.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Here's hoping next year I will be able to enjoy the amazing fruit of Dichroa - I have a friend whos is hopefully bringing one back from Thimble Farms for me - one of the very UBC clones that your link takes us to. Fingers crossed! I love the Clerodendrum's fruit, such a mesmerizing colour. I ordered the Lycesteria in for its amazing flower racemes and fruit but not sure how hardy it will be here. Phytolacca is anoter favourite but it definitely needs space, something which I am a little shy on at the moment. I am actually considering a container of the variegated form next year. Its wonderful to see so many fruit in all their glory!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you liked the fruit post. I've the variegated form of Phytolacca & it is much smaller & has taken several years to attain a small size. It bloomed this year but I don't see any berries. It could be that it's in a really bad spot - maybe I'll move it in the spring. Good luck with Dichroa; it's truly a wonderous sight to behold.

      Delete
  7. Nice plant, we don't have those sort of celebrations over here, although halloween is celebrated by a small minority of people - mainly for the kids. Thanks for sharing this sort of information. Best Wishes Karen.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In much of U.S. popular culture, Halloween has overshadowed All Saints' and All Souls' days which are now mostly celebrated in church by the Anglican/Episcopalian, Lutheran, and Catholic denominations along with a few others. Dia de los muertos (Day of the Dead) came from a largely Roman Catholic Mexico and coincides with All Saints' and All Souls'days. Halloween used to be a holiday mostly for the children here but now adults like to wear costumes and have parties. Children still dress up and walk from door to door knocking and saying "trick or treat" whereupon candy or other treats are put in whatever receptacle the child is carrying.

      Delete
  8. Wow! You have a botanical garden there! I am amazed by the variety of your plants! I am wondering how is your Dichroa f. doing? How old is the plant? Mine was sitting for 2 years in the shady part of the garden: good berries but stunted growth (I think because of the roots of the big trees suffocating it). I moved it to another location recently.
    Thanks for your post and provided links!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a great variety because I tend to buy one or two of anything that catches my eye in the nursery. It makes for a cool collection of plants but my garden lacks the beautiful design and well-thought-out hardscape choices which I so admire in other gardens like yours! The Dichroa in the picture is about three years old. I have some others the same age that are in shadier spots and are smaller. They bloomed a little later but had bluer flowers.

      Delete
  9. Wow, that's very impressive! I love the color of the Clerodendrum. My berries - mostly wild currants, elderberries, dogwood, and viburnum - tend not to last very long because of the birds, but that is the biggest reason I planted them. Could that Viburnum be V. trilobum?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you're right on the Viburnum identification. I just got it this year, having been attracted to the berries. V. trilobum grew in my Southeast Alaskan home town. Most of the berries don't last because of the birds. but that Pernettya is pretty amazing. However, I've seen specemins in nurseries which don't have berries in the summer like mine does so maybe mine is stressed into production or something.

      Delete
  10. Quite many berries! Will you have a Berry Christmas? ;O)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.