Beautiful Berry Time!

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Tina

The American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, is in its berrying-up mode once again, on track for autumn bird migration and general purple peckishness by birds and mammals.

The gardener won’t dine on the berries, but is infatuated with the bodacious beautyberries!

Some years the berries disappear just after the purpeling, but at other times–and this year is one of those times–the berries linger, wildlife apparently having other dining choices and so aren’t snarfing the berries the second they turn purple. There have been nibblers on the berries; I’ve witness one or more Mockingbirds dashing away as I approach, berry in beak. In this shot, notice the empty pedicels alongside those still offering berries. As well, more evidence of bird visitation are the splotches of white in the background which are splashes of bird poop. Birds eat, birds poop!

Most of the berries on my shrub are purple, but some are stubbornly slow to segue from the unripe creamy white to the luscious metallic purple. That’s okay, those will turn eventually, thus providing nourishment and beauty for a later time when ripe and ready.

The American Beautyberry is a lovely, deciduous shrub. With an airy growth pattern, its wide, rich green foliage is arrayed along graceful, arching branches. The purple berries are preceded in June and early July by dainty clusters of sweet pink blooms. My limited photographic skills have never quite captured just how attractive this shrub is, berrying or not.

I recently took these two photos at about 6pm and at 100F. Yes, it’s been that hot in sunny Austin, Texas! This shot is from the side of the shrub,

…and this one is facing the front of the shrub.

You’ll notice that the leaves are a tad droopy. You would be a tad droopy too if you were sitting out, day after day, in 100F+ temperatures!

Even though the plant looks droopy, on this particular day, the plant really didn’t need extra water. One job of roots is to take in water from the soil and deliver moisture through plants’ vascular systems to keep foliage and blooms fresh. When soil is moist, plants’ roots are effective in delivering water and plants are vibrant and healthy. During daylight hours plants release water vapor through stomata and when it’s hot and dry, that release increases. This process is called transpiration and it often causes leaves look droopy toward the end of a day. But during overnight hours when temperatures cool, plants recover the water in their leaves because the process of transpiration significantly slows and roots are able to deliver moisture to the plant. When soil is extremely dry and the roots have no water to extract and deliver, plants wilt–and remain wilted. And if wilting continues for for a long enough period of time, plants die.

I don’t fuss when I see wilted plants at the end of a day, especially during our long, hot growing season. But when a plant is wilted in the morning? It gets a nice, deep drink! The Beautyberry is a thirstier plant than most of the others I grow and requires a drink about once every five days or so. I love the plant, so I’m committed to that watering schedule and is why I placed it on this spot near an outdoor water spigot.

This Beautyberry berrying season I haven’t successfully captured any wild thing eating, but last year at about this same time I observed a young female House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus, who enjoyed the berries.

Bon Appétit to all who partake!

Berry Good!

Posted on October 12, 2023 by Tina

Autumn in Central Texas brings an appreciated dramatic flush of blooms (after the heat and drought of a long summer) but also a generous offering of fruits and seeds from many spring-blooming plants.

American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, is a hardy shade-to-sun deciduous shrub which provides yummy meals for Blue Jays, Mockingbirds and various mammals.

Dainty pink June blooms segue to light green berry clusters in July, which then color-up in August. By mid-September, the berries arrive at their disco-metallic, ready-to-eat form. Critters show up and critters eat. I haven’t snagged a decent shot of anyone nibbling on the berries, as foliage provides good cover. But nibble they have.

The first photos were taken weeks ago, but with wildlife noshing, most of the purple goodness that decorated the shrub, are gone with those bird and mammal meals. The Beautyberry still holds a few clusters of berries, which I expect will be eaten in the next few weeks. After that, with shorter and cooler days, the foliage will turn butter yellow and eventually drop to the ground, a mosaic of autumn which, in time, will add nutrients to the soil for future growing seasons.

Another plant that resident and migratory birds enjoy is Roughleaf Dogwood tree,Cornus drummondii. This particular tree is situated behind my pond and provides good refuge for bathing birds to escape to when startled, or a restful spot to perch when fluffing wet feathers is required.

Birds nosh on the creamy white fruits which sit aloft wine-colored stems. Ignored berries have fermented, crinkled, and turned a deep black-blue.

The blast of yellow in the background comes from a couple of Plateau Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata, shrubs. Pollinators are all over these blooms right now and when the blooms end, birds will go ga-ga for the seeds. Once a freeze renders the shrub dormant, finches reportedly use dried leaves for their nesting material.

Before fall fruit development, Rough-leaf Dogwood flower creamy white blooms in April and May, attracting a variety of pollinators, especially fly and native bee species.

Wildlife friendly gardens require plants that are food sources, as well as havens from danger and for rest. These three plants are native to Texas and are excellent seasonal wildlife plants. All are tough plants and easy to grow, add form and structure for human admiration and important sustenance for wildlife. Autumn is a good time to plant perennials and trees here in Texas, so give native plants a whirl in your garden. You’ll appreciate their beauty and practice good stewardship on your plot of the Earth.

Too Hot, Too Cool

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Tina

Truthfully, I haven’t had the courage to follow too closely, but here in Austin, we’re at about 30 days of over 100º F for this summer, with most of those days occurring in August. I’m ready to pull the plug on the August oven, but I’m having trouble finding the cord.

The garden is holding up well, even with afternoon heat which delivers a tired, wilted look–for both garden and gardener. August in Texas is always hot, but thankfully it also ushers in the cool purpling of the American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana.

The diminutive pink beautyberry blooms of June are long gone and the replacement purple fruits will remain until birds eat or cold withers–which ever happens first.