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!
My Gardener Says... 