Shrubs – Page 2

A Beauty Of A Berry

Color Me Disappointed

Nearly all the time, when I create a blog, it is the result of research. I’m learning new things, right along with you. Tonight I learned that the bushes I am pleased with – being beautiful and native, are actually not native. Well, that certainly is a surprise!

The Impostor Revealed

The telling detail which revealed the impostor to me, is the berry clusters that are held on stems away from the main stem. In the native, American Beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, the berries are grouped in clusters right on the main stem, looking like poufs on a French poodle. All these photographs are of my Purple Beautyberry, Callicarpa dichotoma, native to the Far East. In any event, these beautiful bushes provide the same sustenance to wildlife that the natives do.

Purply-Pink

In the spring, the Beautyberry bush is covered with diminutive, purply-pink flowers which attract many bees and butterflies. Being so small the flowers create a soft wash of pink, over the green of the shrubs.

Pollinators

Those bees and butterflies are happy to have the blossoms, and I’m happy that they get attracted to my gardens.

Apple Green Berries

As the summer marches on, the flowers fade and turn to tiny apple green berries.

And The Beauty Of The Berry

By early October, the apple green berries have turned into glowing magenta clusters of fruit.

For Emergency Only

Song birds put off eating the Beautyberries until there is nothing left to eat. Perhaps these berries are the Brussels sprouts of the bird world. Once they are faced with nothing but the Beautyberries, they will flock to the bushes and eat every single morsel.

Snow Cover

Once snow covers everything, and all the dogwood berries, spicebush berries, and sumac berries are gone, the songbirds are happy that I’ve planted Beautyberry bushes for them!

Witch Hazel – Peak

Floral Display

Not much is blooming now. About the only thing left putting on a show is the last of the late summer asters, with their lovely, soft lavender, diminutive petals. Tiny petals adding a comforting accent to the brilliant fall colors.

Lemon Zest

The last floral display of the year is the one I’ve been waiting for since spring. This is the opening of the Witch Hazel flowers! The flowers are a soft yellow. Four strappy petals to each flower. Petals like lemon zest. Not demanding attention but instead quietly announcing the middle of autumn and for me a warning of, “Winter is just around the corner!” A warning that I delight in!

Seed Pod

After the Witch Hazel flower is pollinated by a moth, during the following many months the flower will become a seed pod, sueded, buff colored, waiting for the floral display of the next autumn. It is in autumn that these seed pods eject their two shiny black seeds, sending them some 10 to 20 feet away. These seeds will take another whole year to germinate.

Understory

The Witch Hazel is a small tree or shrub growing in a multi-stemmed clump, reaching for the sky, but being deep in the forest, does not find the sky and the branches arch again toward the ground, creating a wide cluster of stems. The tree at best reaches about 12 to 15 feet tall and 15 to 20 feet wide.

Green Of Summer

The leaves of the Witch Hazel have wavy edges with the upper side having a dark emerald color and the under side having a lighter green color.

What Is In A Name

I have seen several thoughts on how the Witch Hazel got its name. One has to do with the leaf gall one often sees on the leaves of the tree. These galls are caused by the Witch Hazel Leaf Gall Aphid and do indeed look a bit like a witch’s hat! Another story links the timing of the flowering of the tree with Halloween. And still another story is of a historical nature. The branches of the Witch Hazel have been used by Native Americans and in turn by European settlers as divining rods to help them find underground sources for water. The word “wych” is an Anglo-Saxon word for “bend” which is what the branch was said to do when water was detected.

And Now

If the Witch Hazel flowers are indeed saying, “Winter is just around the corner!” I say, “Bring it on!!”

Blackhaw On The Mountain

Buds and Snow White Flowers

From mid-April through mid-May the Blackhaws, Viburnum prunifolium, are in bud and bloom up here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Blackhaw is a shrub or small tree that gets its name from the inky black of the fruit, that develops during the summer, and ripens in the fall.

Fruit or Drupe

The floral display turns to fruit in June. This fruit, which, seems to me would be called a berry, is actually called a drupe. They start out apple green and oblong.

Blushing

As the summer days pass, the apple green gains a blush of dark pink and then crimson as the sun shines on the drupes.

Overnight Changes

Each day as I hike the mountain, as summer turns to autumn, I see changes. I’m surprised at how quickly one little drupe will turn from its crimson red to inky black. It just takes one night and presto! there is another one, blue-black and ripe.

Preserves And Wine

There are sites on the internet that mention Blackhaw preserves and wine. Sure would take a large amount of these drupes to make anything at all. Though tasty, they are mostly a single, large seed. Birds and wildlife enjoy eating the Blackhaw fruit. I think I will leave the drupes for them!

Sumac For Autumn Color

Blossoms Of Winged Sumac, Rhus copallinum — Blossoms Of Winged Sumac, *Rhus copallinum*

Pollinator Pleasing

In mid-summer there is quite a draw at my wood’s edge. The Sumac is in bloom and pollinators are buzzing all over the flowers. I have two types of Sumac — Winged Sumac and Smooth Sumac, supplied by Mother Nature.

Fruit Of Smooth Sumac, Rhus glabra — Fruit Of Smooth Sumac, *Rhus glabra*

For The Birds

From blooms to fruit, pleasing different critters. The fruit of the Sumac attracts birds throughout the winter.

Common "Yellow-Shafted" Flicker, Colaptes auratus — Common “Yellow-Shafted” Flicker, *Colaptes auratus*

Welcome Food During The Snowstorm!

With blinding snow coming down, this Yellow Shafted Flicker was able to find a meal at one of my many Sumacs. This picture was taken in February 2010. We had 72 inches of snow here on the mountain during that winter. It was wonderful!

Winged Sumac, Rhus copallina — Winged Sumac, *Rhus copallina*

And Now The Season Of Color

Sumacs turn brilliant shades in the fall. A little bit at a time. I’m enjoying taking pictures of just one branch or two, dressed in an outstanding scarlet set against the rich emeralds of its past summer finery.

Or . . .

Or tropical shades of limes and lemons, set against the warm colors of papayas.

Smooth Sumac, Rhus glabra — Smooth Sumac, *Rhus glabra*

More Color To Come

In the next two months Sumacs will be turning on more scarlet, making the wood’s edges sing. A song I look forward to!