Types of Bushes With Berries

Finding ornamental bushes to fill your garden with vibrant summer and spring blooms seldom poses a struggle. Finding those that carry the parade of color into fall and winter is trickier, if you don’t choose varieties that follow their blooms with bold berry shows. For Mediterranean-climate gardeners, bushes with ornamental berries can be found in a surprising assortment of sizes and forms. Many of them enjoy growing states hostile to less-adaptable shrubs.

Coastal Garden Shrubs

If your coastal garden can be found in the path of cool, damp, salt-laden breezes, think about tidy, mounding Indian hawthorns (Rhaphiolepis indica). These evergreen 3- to 5- foot shrubs light the late-winter and spring garden with dark pink or white blooms against shiny deep-green foliage. Dark-purple berries follow the blossoms. Spiny “Kasan” firethorn bushes (Pyracantha coccinea “Kasan”), 8 to 10 feet tall, provide exceptional barrier hedges. Their white spring blooms return to late-season clusters of orange-red berries. Glossy green foliage magnifies the fiery shade. Indian hawthorn and “Kasan” rise in U. S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 11 and 5 through 9, respectively.

Shrubs for Wet Sites

Tackle erosion-prone slopes and wet websites using a pair of berry-producing evergreen shrubs. Creeping wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) thrives in color across USDA zones 3 through 8. The 6- to 12-inch ground cover traceable loose soils with its underground stems. Its white summer flowers shine against glossy green leaves which assume hints of crimson in fall, when its aromatic berries appear. Lemon leaf (G. shallon), standing 1 to 6 ft high, performs best in sun filtered through a canopy of oaks or other acid-loving plants. Hardy in USDA zones 6 through 8, it’s white summer and spring blooms. Its edible, purple-black fall berries make tasty jam.

Shrubs With Fall Color

Autumn Brilliance® Apple Serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora “Autumn Brilliance”) and Brandywine™ Viburnum (Viburnum nudum “Bulk”) shut their growing season using memorable berry and foliage displays. “Autumn Brilliance,” up to 25 feet high and wide, flourishes on moist, sunny sites in USDA zones 4 through 9. Plant it where its fragrant white early-spring blossoms and flashy red-orange fall colour are in full view. Enjoy its purple-black summer berries in preserves and baked goods. Five- to 6-foot Brandywine™ viburnum may have the most striking of all cosmetic berries. Ripening from soft green to stunning shades of blue and pink, they shine contrary to the shrub’s glossy, deep-maroon drop leaves. This viburnum, hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, likes full sun and weekly H20.

Container Shrubs

Harbor Belle™ heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica “Jaytee”), in only 1 to 2 feet high and wide, works as a small-space container plant or ground cover at USDA zone 6 through 11 gardens. Pink tones accent its blue-green spring leaves. Bright-red fall berries and burgundy-red foliage make the bamboo a late-season standout. Give it full sun and regular water. Shade-loving Reeves skimmia (Skimmia reevesiana), suitable for USDA zones 7 through 9, loves moist soil. This self-pollinating 2-foot evergreen echoes holly bushes with its leathery deep-green leaves, fragrant white spring blooms and crimson-red winter berries.

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