:: American Beautyberry ::
Callicarpa americana

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:: 08.15.08 ::

Mega Magenta

Well we have color, and yes it’s a garish magenta pink! Probably a nice color when everything else turns brown in the winter but the berries are already disappearing so I don’t think they will be around to add winter color this year.  The bushes are still pretty small with only two or three limbs so I just didn’t get many this year. Hopefully the bushes will get bigger next year and we’ll have a lot more.  I need to remember to trim them so they will branch out and get bushy instead of being leggy.  I’ll try to add more updates as they get larger next year.

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:: 06.29.08 ::

Summer Berries

Today I found that the American beautyberry already has a few berries on the main stem. It seems like it’s too early but I don’t really know since this is my first year to grow this plant. The Mockingbirds have been sitting in the Pecan tree squawking at me fiercely when I go near it…so weird…it’s like they know this bush is going to have juicy berries for them to eat later. I wonder if the plant is putting out some kind of smell or something that they can sense; they certainly are being protective of it!

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:: 05.03.08 ::

Quickie Update

Right now these don’t look like much but I took a photo today. They are kind of bland leggy bushy stems with large leaves. I wonder if I should trim them back so they will put out new stems? Not sure but I will do some research…or maybe trim back one stem on one of the three plants to see what happens. I think they are all three pretty established now. It didn’t take long for them to get going once I put them in the ground.

I’ll have more pictures later in the season as they bloom and make berries.

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:: 03.16.08 ::

Planted

I finally planted the beauty berry today since they were starting to bud with new leaves. They did amazingly well just sitting out under the tree in their containers even though we had freezing weather and snow. It’s true, they are Texas tough. I am eager to have them branch out now and get established. I can’t wait to photograph the pretty blooms and berries.

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:: 02.03.08 ::

Something New

I picked up three of these at Hermans in late January. They were just sticks, but are doing well. I will be planting them as soon as it starts to warm up a bit.

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