In the winter, gardeners have to be creative to bring color and texture to an otherwise bleak landscape. One of the best ways to do this is by planting shrubs that produce winter berries. Not only will you get the bright berries themselves, but your shrubs will soon be decorated with a host of colorful, feasting birds.
There are many choices available for winter berries with colors ranging from white, blue, yellow, orange, and red. Read on to find out about the many colorful berry options available.
1. Beautyberry (Callicarpa sp.)
No garden is complete without the showstopping bright-purple berries of Beautyberry. The attractive, arching branches of this ornamental shrub provide berries that persist until well after the leaves have fallen. Highlight beautyberry by planting it as a specimen plant, or in front of evergreens or another solid backdrop.
2. Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster sp.)
Most varieties of Cotoneaster are small, spreading shrubs, with many prostrate varieties used as groundcovers as they tumble over walls and slopes. Both evergreen and deciduous varieties are available, with dark reddish-green leaves, pink spring flowers, and eye-catching small red berries in winter.
3. Crabapple (Malus sp.)
From soft multicolored blossoms in spring, to a profusion of tiny fruits into fall and winter, to lovely bark and graceful branches year-round, Crabapples are great choices for a year around garden. Most varieties are small ornamental trees with an arching shape, but weeping forms are also available.
Varieties include some hardy to zone 5.
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