American Beautyberry - Orchid Board

Ray · #1 10-10-2020, 03:04 PM

Saw one of these for the fist time about 6-7 years ago when visiting my sister-in-law in Richmond. I was very happy to discover that there is one in my yard, although it is growing so fast, I'm going to have to prune the daylights out of it this fall.

estación seca · #2 10-10-2020, 06:46 PM

American beautiful fruit!

DirtyCoconuts · #3 10-10-2020, 08:40 PM

Edible? Quite pretty

Dollythehun · #4 10-11-2020, 07:42 AM

Ok, Ray, I'm asking to be corrected. I grew and sold Beauty Berry shrubs for years. Purple berries, yes, fuzzy, no. Or is it the picture? Different species? Botanical name? I'd also never heard of Callicarpa Americana being edible. I grew and sold it as a wildlife plant, or cut it for arranging.

WaterWitchin · #5 10-11-2020, 09:30 AM

My grandma used to make a jelly from it, and occasionally wine. Pretty bitter to just eat raw, and kind of mealy, says me. They also used the leaves (crush and rub) as a mosquito repellent. Works well.

Ray, I planted a small one behind the top of my waterfall many years back. It grew into a beast, out of balance size-wise for the area height-wise. I chopped back the older, longer branches each year (kind of like you do a lilac) and it kept getting taller. I finally gave up and the whole bush back six inches from the ground each year, and it still gave a nice, but not so tall, display. Years later I read the former way I was pruning encouraged extra height, the latter kept it pretty, but not beastly. It's a prune late winter or very early spring before sap rises plant.

Having said that, it had much better shape before I started pruning it. I finally disposed of it. Wish I'd just known better, and planted it somewhere else while small. Learning lesson.