Beautyberry.

6-5-12 SHORT HILLS: There was another 0.4 inches of rain yesterday, and today is dark, damp and cool with more rain on the way. I haven’t had to do much lately, just some odds and ends.

Beautyberry [Callicarpa japonica] is a deciduous shrub that gets to six feet tall and wide. Its most striking feature is the berries that are a neon-violet color, round, small and grow in clusters in the fall. Birds will eat them, and they might repel mosquitoes. The flowers are inconspicuous and are appearing now. They are tiny, maybe a quarter inch across.

New blooms: hydrangea, beautyberry.


 Beautyberry, flowers and buds, with pollinator.

Beautyberry. These flowers are no more than one-quarter inch in diameter. That purple color is the same color the berries show.