Every year gardeners stand with hands on hips wondering to themselves, “Why did I add this shrub to the garden?”
It’s a bit boring in the spring and summer. It has clean green leaves, a nice cascading shape, but it gets lost, quite easily, in the garden. It makes us wonder if we wasted valuable garden real estate. Then this happens. The purple berries of Callicarpa americana are gorgeous. Just as other plants are turning brown or golds and copper tones, this summer shy shrub takes the spotlight with its stems bejeweled in purple berries.

This is why we study garden books and magazines, tour gardens or hire professionals- so we don’t overlook a lackluster summer shrub that is, in fact, a real gem in the fall. A professional designer will place a plant like this in the ideal space in your landscape so that come fall you can enjoy its true beauty.