I love Callicarpa– I first discovered it used in a wreath that I bought many years ago. The berries are so beautiful, I thought they were fake until I discovered the real plant. The wreath disintegrated after a couple seasons, and I would love to find another. Let me know if you know of one.

Wikipedia describes Callicarpa americana:

American beautyberry or Callicarpa americana has been found to be a natural insect repellent. Four chemicals have been isolated that appear to be the active ingredients; borneol,[1] callicarpenal, intermedeol, and spathulenol. It has found to be repellant to the mosquitoes which carry yellow fever and malaria, as well as the tick which carries Lyme disease. The discovery and use of callicarpenal has been patented by the United States Department of Agriculture Agriculture Research Service.[2] It has also been used to produce wine.

1. beautymoth.jpg, 2. Callicarpa americana, 3. american beautyberry, 4. Purple Beautyberry, 5. Untitled, 6. Callicarpa americana, 7. Callicarpa americana – Beautyberry, 8. Callicarpa americana, 9. Callicarpa Americana – American Beautyberry
Callicarpa is such a favorite that I used it as the basis for Greayer Design Associates latest print advertisement. Check it out and let me know what you think.

There is many a raised bed system that will serve the purpose, but being the anti-plastic purist that I am, there is only one product that I can wholeheartedly endorse and that is those of Tony Davis at The Farmstead in Leverett, MA. They ship these all over the country so don’t feel like you have to be close to get them.
Made simply of White cedar, you can stack them to help with mobility or create a more dramatic look, and they can fit in almost anywhere. I use them in my own garden instead of spending months of back breaking effort eliminating all the rocks.
The bottom picture is an herb garden tucked in behind an old New England tavern that gives a place for the chef the grow fresh goodies for the restaurant.

The Redbud is universally loved and is one of the best spring flowering trees. It is used by Native Americans in basket making because its inner bark bears a naturally red color preferred for creating contrasting patterns in the weave. Many people also call it a Judas tree – though it is not the real ‘Judas tree’ (that is the similar Cercis siliquastrum). Did you know that it is called the Judas Tree because it is the supposed tree that Judas hanged himself from when he betrayed Christ – lore says that the tree ‘blushed’ when this happened. Hmmm…

Wikipedia describes the Redbud:

It typically grows to 6-9 m (20-30 feet) tall with a 8-10 m (25-35 foot) spread. It generally has a short, often twisted trunk and spreading branches. The flowers are showy, light to dark magenta pink in color, 1.5 cm (½ inch) long, appearing in clusters from March to May, on bare stems before the leaves, sometimes on the trunk itself. The flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees such as blueberry bees and carpenter bees. Short-tongued bees apparently cannot reach the nectaries.

In some parts of southern Appalachia, green twigs from the Eastern redbud are used as seasoning for wild game such as venison and opossum. Because of this, in these mountain areas the Eastern redbud is sometimes known as the spicewood tree.

1. Redbud leaves, 2. Seedpods on an Eastern Redbud Tree, 3. redbud tree 2, 4. Blossoms of the Eastern Redbud tree (Cercis canadensis), 5. Spring is here, 6. Redbud Rhapsody, 7. Spring Dreams, 8. Redbud (Cercis canadensis), 9. Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’

I know of just a few artists that are living that create landscape art that I want to celebrate. I hope, through writing this blog, I will continually discover more. Lew French is one of them. I will be highlighting others in time. Lew is a stone mason whose creations make me stop and stare and the images of his work inspire me.

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The berries get me every time. Little bright red beacons that draw me closer. Winterberry, loaded with bright red berries on slender twigs is one of the prettiest shrubs in winter. It’s especially attractive standing proudly with snow on its branches. Keep the birds off and you can use the berry branches a christmas decorations. Wikipedia describes winterberry:

It is a shrub growing to 1–5 m tall. It is one of a number of hollies which are deciduous, losing their leaves in the fall. In wet sites, it will spread to form a dense thicket. The species occurs particularly in wetland habitats, but also on dry sand dunes and grassland. The berries are an important food resource for numerous species of birds. The berries were used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes, the origin of the name “fever bush”.
The winterberry is prized for the midwinter splash of bright color from densely packed berries, whose visibility is heightened by the loss of foliage; therefore it is popular even where other, evergreen, hollies are also grown.

1. !, 2. Honeybee on Winterberry, 3. Cedar Waxwing, 4. Robin and Winterberry II, 5. fall fruit, 6. berrilicious, 7. Drops of Jupiter, 8. Winterberry with Shadows, 9. common winterberry 2