Looking lovely in late winter is the Mexican beautyberry, Callicarpa acuminata. Long after most beautyberry fruit has been long gone, the tawny purple fruit of Callicarpa acuminata ripen. The Mexican beautyberry plant matures around 4′ tall x 8′ wide, and thrives in light shade. While the fruit are loved by wildlife, it’s often wildlife that
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We recently caught this Chinese praying mantis munching down on the native yellow jackets that have been feasting on our flowering specimen of Hedera rhombea ‘Cheju’. I guess this looked like a horticultural food truck to them. Evidently, they aren’t effected by the toxin in its sting. It’s truly an insect eat insect world out
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Looking good in the garden now is Callicarpa americana ‘Welch’s Pink’, discovered by former PDN’er Matt Welch in East Texas. This is pink fruited form of our native American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana. The fruit are an important fall food source for many species of birds.
