This time of year, berries in the garden take on a new importance by relieving the grayness of the season. They add color and texture to the landscape and can be a strong focal point to a winter vista; they are especially impressive against a backdrop of snow.
But berries are also pivotal in a plant's life: They are the fruit that comes from the plant's flowers and contain the seeds of the next generation.
The trees and shrubs that produce ornamental berries decorate our gardens when we need them most, in the fall and winter. Popular deciduous trees that produce berries are flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), serviceberry (Amelanchier) and some hawthorns (Crataegus).
Various kinds of hollies (Ilex), both evergreen and deciduous, are excellent berry plants and come in all sizes.
The tree that is traditionally thought of as the Christmas holly, with pyramidal shape, pointed leaves and bright red berries, is Ilex aquifolium. It is English and can grow to about 25 feet. A similarly shaped holly is American (Ilex opaca); its leaves are less pointed and less shiny, but it can grow to about 45 feet and it has lots of berries, not always red.
A brilliant yellow-berried variety is "Canary." A dazzling deciduous holly is Winterberry (I. verticillata). Some of its varieties can grow to 15 feet, and the red, orange or yellow berries last much of the winter, before they ferment and soften enough for birds to eat. Excellent red varieties include "Sparkleberry" and "Sunset." Holly berries can be red, orange, yellow, white or black, so if color is important to you, ask at the nursery when you shop. The Japanese holly (I. crenata) is probably the hardiest holly; its berries are usually black. Remember that hollies are dioecious, meaning that the male and female flowers are on separate plants. Only the female plant produces berries, while both bear flowers, and there must be a male nearby for pollination.
Another dioecious berry-producing shrub is Skimmia japonica. It is low-growing and with its red berries, long elliptical leaves and fall setting buds is handsome in the rock garden or border. An unusual berried shrub is American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), which has tight clusters of violet berries.
The most dramatic berry shrub is probably Pyracantha coccinea; it has red or orange berries, but remember that its common name, Firethorn, is apt, for it is full of thorns. Barberry (Berberis), which has red or black berries, depending on the variety, and bright gold fall foliage, also has thorns, as do hawthorn trees.
A shrub that doesn't have these flaws is viburnum, whose 225 species come in many shapes and sizes and degrees of hardiness. Some are native, some are exotic; some have scented flowers, some have flowers with no aroma, some grow to 20 feet, some are dwarf (about 4 feet).
Excellent berry-producing ones are V. dilatatum, tea viburnum (V. cassinoides) and V. sieboldii, which has profuse red berries that turn black as winter settles in. The most important thing to remember about viburnums is the array of choices.
Sources
* Fieldstone Nursery, 1936 Middletown Road, Parkton, Md. 21120 410-357-5114.
* "Hollies, Versatile Beauty for the Landscape," annual publication of the Holly Society of America Inc., c/o Linda Parsons, 11318 W. Murdock, Wichita, Kan. 67212-6609
* "Bold, Beckoning Berries," Fine Gardening magazine, April 1997
* "The Random House Book of Shrubs," Roger Phillips & Martyn Rix, 1989
