While the flowers may have finished blooming there can still be color in the garden. There are several plants that bear colorful berries through the winter unless the birds get there first. In fact you can find berries of one sort or another throughout the year as Jenny Andrews explains in her article which I found on the Garden Design Magazine website.
A garden really can have something lovely to look at in every season. Just remember the four F?s?flowers, foliage, form and fruit. The last one, fruit, is often the most overlooked and underutilized as a garden-design element. If you?ve been dozing in the flower-filled lushness of spring and summer, wake up! The unexpected beauty of berries can take your garden through crisp autumn days and snowy winter landscapes. They can even give wildlife something to snack on. For any garden anywhere, there?s a berry to suit the site, and with colors ranging from red to orange, purple, pink, white, and blue, any color scheme is fair game. Read on to learn about nine berry-producing plants.
1. WinterberryPhoto by: J. Paul Moore.
?Winter Red? is widely considered the top-dog cultivar of Ilex verticillata, a deciduous holly native to the eastern half of North America. The fireworks of glossy, bright-red berries can run from late summer through early spring (depending on how hungry local birds are), making it a must-have for the winter garden. Prefers moist, rich, slightly acidic soils. Berries are more profuse in full sun. Requires a nearby stud holly (male-flowered) such as ?Southern Gentleman?, ?Apollo?, or ?Raritan Chief? to form fruit. Zones 3-9.2. Mountain AshPhoto by: Marianne Majerus.
Underused as a landscape plant, mountain ashes deserve a closer look for fruit, flowers and blazing fall color. Fruits of most species are orange or red, but some are white (Sorbus hupehensis). Here, the pink-blushed pearls of S. hupehensis ?Rosea? are set against its burgundy autumn foliage. Most species are hardy in Zones 4-7.3. CoralberryPhoto by: J. Paul Moore.
Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus) is another low-key shrub that waits until winter to turn on the charm. Small, yellowish summer flowers turn into purplish-red fruit clustered along arching stems beginning in October. Native throughout much of the United States. Prune in early spring. Quite shade tolerant. Zones 2-7.
