By Beatrice Hawkins
Earlier in the week I saw a very unusual “flower” at a florist. At first glance I thought it was artificial – clumps of small bright purple balls with a real metallic sheen, on leafless sticks! On further investigation and with the help of “Google” I have found out a great deal about this unusual plant.
The botanical name is Callicarpa or the very apt common name “Beauty berry”. It appears that it is native to east and south east Asia, Australia, Madagascar, south-east North America and South America.
There appears to be a lot of different subspecies with some being more cold tolerant than others. In fact the tropical varieties are evergreen and the temperate area species, deciduous.
Also they have been bred to have different coloured flowers and berries.
The native one has fluffy mauve flowers in spring with the berries following and hanging on and deepening in colour as the season progresses. In autumn the leaves take on beautiful colours and fall. The berries look astonishing on the bare stems and are very useful in the cut flower trade as they hold well in an arrangement.
It appears that it would grow in our area as it is frost tolerant once established and likes full sun in well drained soil.
There is another variety that is callicarpa pedunculata, “velvet leaf tree”, which looks great in the photos and seems exceptionally tolerant of soil types but unfortunately is not frost tolerant so be careful not to get that one unless you have a very sheltered spot. If such a position is available it would be wonderful in the garden as it is a dense shrub providing great cover for nesting small birds, flowers for pollinators and the berries are a good food source for birds and wildlife. Ah well, I suppose we can’t have it all!
The callicarpa bodinieri seems to have very few problems, if any, with disease or pests and once established is frost tolerant and doesn’t require a lot of water. It needs pruning in winter after the berries are finished to maintain a good compact shape but grows to about 1.5 metre high and wide. If you have the room, it helps to plant more than one to help with pollination. Once again I need a bigger area and a gardener to keep things tidy, so that I can plant all these great things I find!
Another shrub I’d like to have room to grow is Mexican orange, choisya ternata. Once again it is frost tolerant and takes little water once established and can be kept trimmed to a formal or informal hedge. Its beautiful vibrant green leaves and orange blossom scented clusters of white flowers are the reason I’d like to have room for some of these. It is suggested that they are frost hardy to -5 degrees and because of this are a great alternative to the frost tender Murraya. Another reason to avoid the ever popular Murraya is that it is considered an environmental weed in both Queensland and NSW.
Another plant that is putting on a great display right now when there is not generally a lot of colour, is Pyrostegia venusta or orange trumpet vine. I had thought it probably wouldn’t grow here as I had previously only seen it in coastal areas around Grafton in N.S.W. providing a great show over old farm buildings. A neighbour has one in an exposed position and it is going well so I have bought one and put it on my back fence. For this year I have rigged a frost cover to protect it but hope it will provide a good splash of colour on the fence this time next year!
When I was first married there was a trumpet vine over the fence at the back gate of the house on the farm. It was very different to the one I have just planted. It was probably campsis radicans and had flowers that were more of an orange red and really a trumpet shape. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that one growing – maybe I need to find and plant it also…plenty of space on my back fence! I do remember that it did sucker badly and was a bit hard to control so I guess it will be planted in a large pot to avoid these hazards. It will grow in any soil but likes good drainage. It is frost hardy – even snow where it was growing back then! It likes a hot sunny spot so my back fence should be perfect. Another plant that looks almost identical is campsis grandiflora so whichever one I can find I’ll plant. Grandiflora doesn’t seem to be quite as vigorous or invasive and comes from China while radicans is native to eastern America.
The Warwick Horticultural Society will definitely be still having the annual garden competition in October so look after those gardens through the intervening months and pray for rain!
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
