Tag: purple berries

American Beautyberry Bush Propagation From Seeds

The American Beautyberry bush is an unusual and large blooming perennial here in central Florida. I’m trying to propagate from seeds that come from the shrub in my yard.

I’m beginning this post well before it will actually be completed. My goal is to start Beautyberry plants from seeds.

The Beautyberry bush, or American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is a unique plant and I have two growing at the edge of my small Florida yard. I thought they were some sort of big weed until I saw the berries.

Beautyberry bush
Backyard larger bush
Beautyberry bush
Side yard smaller bush

I have learned that it is a Florida native plant. It is easy to grow and needs no care. I have certainly done nothing to help these plants thrive. Both plants are growing among natural growth at the edge of the yard.

The Hidden Bush

On the lot next door, there is also a Beautyberry and an Elm tree side by side. However, both are covered in vines . The only reason I realized there is a beauty berry in that clump is that I went in to remove the vines (failed) and found new growth at the base of the bush.

This is not on my land, but I’d love to uncover them so they can grow correctly. In winter when the vines die, I will try again, unless the land is cleared by the owner before then.

Vines covering tree
Beautyberry new growth
New growth beneath the vine covered Beautyberry bush
A Natural Mosquito Repellant
Beautyberry bush

The leaves are a bit fuzzy and I’ve read that they can be used to keep mosquitos away by rubbing them on the skin. I’ve tried this and it seems to work!

Timeline of Flowers to Berries

The little pink flowers begin to show up along the stems in May. By June, the flowers have become green berries. In July the berries begin to turn purple from the back of the stem toward the front.

  • Beautyberry bush
  • Beautyberry bush flowers
    May flowers on the Beautyberry bush
  • Beautyberry bush with green berries
    June
  • Beautyberry bush stem of berries
    July berry stem on Beautyberry
  • beauty berry bush in August
    August 3rd berries still turning purple

Birds love to eat the seeds and have therefore have helped this plant to spread. Because I have found another nice shrub (the Firespike) back behind this Beauty Berry, I suspect that this area of the yard was once a garden. It is overgrown with vines and weeds that are impossible to keep clear, but these nice, flowering shrubs have survived.

A Propagation Plan

Now, I know that this plant is hard to find, so I cherish the plants I already have. But, what if I could start new Beautyberries from the seeds?

purple berries
A striking stem of purple berries

Collect the purple berries and find the seeds inside. Seeds form around the end of summer.

Let the seeds dry and then plant them in early spring.

purple berries

End of August collection of berries from the Beauty Berry Bush.

Beautyberry bush berries
Beautyberry bush berries
beautybush berries

This propagating from seed was a big FAIL for me. Nothing grew. I’ll just enjoy the plants that are already growing.

More Good Info About the Beautyberry

Large beauty berry bush
Sprawling Beauty Berry Bush
beauty berry bush
Long stems with purple berries, August photo

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Clusters of Purple Berries on The Beautyberry Bush

I’m all for learning something new each day, and today I learned that the clusters of purple berries on the stem in my backyard is part of the Beautyberry bush.  This odd stem of berries in clumps caught my eye as I walked through my small backyard.  I had to get photos, but the trouble I had was capturing the true purple color of these berries.

purple beauty berry
Beautyberry stem of purple berries

Using my iPhone, I took numerous photos of these striking purple clumps and none of the photos showed the actual dark purple color correctly. Below is the color my phone produced, but the other photos more closely match the actual darker purple. I had to replicate that in Pixelmator.

purple berries
iPhone photo is brighter purple color than reality

This stem is sticking out of my backyard hedge. The hedge is made up of a variety of plants which have grown very tall and create a border between the back of my house and the house next door. I did not plant the Beautyberry, but someone may have done so years ago. Or maybe it grew wild.

The Beautyberry is a southern bush with berry stems that show up in September. It’s berries feed birds and wildlife and the leaves and berries are good as mosquito repellent. Read more interesting info at the Garden.org site.

purple berries
A striking stem of purple berries

I found some other interesting flora to photograph that same day. The Elephant Ear was blooming and the banana trees had sent off a new shoot which would grow a long stem of bananas. A dead tree is full of clusters of dark purple berries and I don’t know yet what those are. There is always something new to learn when I step outside.