Malus? aka: APPLE? Oh well, maybe, but remember this IS a SHRUB, not a tree. Each berry dangles on it's own tiny stem, cherry-style, but these micro-stems always break off 1/2" away from the berry, and the remnant has to be pulled with some effort. I will post more fotos to photobucket this weekend, (to get around the 60kb foto restriction.) Does anyone live in Westchester County or thereabouts and wants to go on a nice sunday hiking excursion? Let me know, and you can come along and feast on these berries yourself! Bring camera and hiking-shoes!

While you are waiting for an expert to respond, I'll throw in my two cents: My intial take is that it is not a highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), because of the color of the berries. V. corymbosum also has an interesting bark - it looks like a dark brown or tan bark has been stripped away in segments to show a lighter underbark -- there is something muscular or shredded looking about it. But I'm not sure this isn't true for other members of the family. The location is right for V. corymbosum, but it's also right for other berry-making plants, such as various native and non-native buckthorns (the non-natives are invasive) and the huckleberries. I believe buckthorns are toothless (at least the European is), while blueberries and huckleberries have toothed leaves. The general rule with the color of blueberries and huckleberries is that blueberries are more blue than black and huckleberries are more black than blue. Also, blueberry seeds are numerous and tiny, so you don't notice them when you eat the berry, while huckleberries (at least Gaylussacia baccata) have a small number of larger seeds, and you notice them. I live in eastern Mass. and have noticed in some wetter (but not swampy) areas, a lot of dangleberry shrubs (Gaylussacia frondosa?), a huckleberry, that may match your plant: black berries, toothed leaves (I think) and larger than some of the smaller huckleberries and blueberries (I think - wasn't clear from description). My only question is the wavy white line on the berries, which doesn't seem to fit with my understanding of either blueberries or huckleberries. As I said, I'm not an expert, so I hope someone will jump in and correct me if I've led you wrong. -- wd

I live quite close to The Garden in the Woods, so maybe I'll wander over soon. Our house was owned by a man who lived there for 90 years! The property had mostly trees, but he used to feed the squirrels peanuts in the shell. We're still finding them in the yard. I mentioned to my neighbor that we were always finding peanuts and she told us all about the previous owner. I wish we'd known him. At any rate, I love old things. My house has many antiques and we have plants MIL gave us from her childhood home. They're quite special to us. We have pachysandra that came from the house DH grew up in, and they got it from MIL's father, long deceased. Who knows where he got it? I've given some to my friends. Gardening creates quite a community, doesn't it! -Donna

Discussion Posted by Eduarda 10 - Portugal I love berrying shrubs. They are so useful and look so lovely in Winter. So, what are the berrying shrubs that you have, love to have and have to have? Ill start with those I have. - Hollies - ilex aquifolium, JC Van Toll, Golden King, Aureomarginata - Nandina domestica - Firethorn - my privacy edge separating me from the road - Viburnum tinus - some blue berries are already showing up - Callicarpa - the purple berries are wonderful at this time of the year - Pernettya - pink and white berries - Cotoneaster horizontalis - Ruscus - Hips in rosa gallica officinalis and versicolor, Heritage and Veilchenblau What else am I missing for my Winter garden? Eduarda __________________________________________________ Follow-Up Postings: RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: TheGardnr z6 MA Ilex verticillata __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda 10 - Portugal (My Page) Right! I love it. If only I had a source to obtain it! I´ve never seen it offered for trade in Portugal... Eduarda __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Herb Victoria, B.C. Cotoneaster franchetii. Grows to between 2 and 3 meters tall and has LOTS of orange berries. I've just added a picture of ours to the Hortiplex database. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Teri2 6/7 TN (My Page) Ilex crenata (a fast growing boxwood look-alike) is used extensively for sheared hedging here. What most people don't realize is that if you lay off the shears when it flowers in spring, you'll be rewarded with a crop of dark blue berries that will have mockingbirds hopping all over those hedges come winter. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda 10 - Portugal (My Page) I didn´t know that about ilex crenata - thanks for letting me know. Another one I´ve never seen in Portugal, sigh... Eduarda __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: bahia SF Bay Area (My Page) Acmena smithii(purple) Arbutus unedo(red) Cestrum aurantiacum/elegans/nocturnum(white or red) Clerodendrum trichotomum(turquoise) Dianella ensifolia/intermedia/tasmanica(turquoise to deep purple) Duranta repens/stenostachya(golden yellow) Helmholtzia glabberrima(white) Heteromeles arbutifolia(deep red) Hedychium gardnerianum(orange seeds) Mahonia aquifolium/lomariifolia(blue) Pittosporum tobira/undulatum(deep yellow to orange) Symphoricarpos albus(white) Syzygium paniculatum(purple) Not all of these have berries in winter, but all of them do have seasonally showy berries/fruits. It also pays to be careful with berrying shrubs, as the fruits may be exceptionally attractive to birds, and cause problems if spread into wild lands. This is a real problem with some Cotoneaster and Hedera species in California. It may be safest to use plants that can't get established from seed/or aren't quite hardy in your climate, rather than things that can/are... I would look for plants that come from climates with the opposite rainy season to yours, or that are known as noninvasive in your region. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: dirtydave 8 (My Page) I live in Seattle, which has a mild, maritime zone 8 climate not too unlike northern Portugal. All the berrying plants mentioned in the opening list do well here. Here are a few more: Aucuba japonica Sarcococca confusa Ilex cornuta __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: rebow 6 Philly (My Page) beautyberry with its purple berries and winterberry with red ones that last all winter. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda Z10 - Portugal (My Page) I have beautyberry (callicarpa americana) and this year I´m keeping my fingers crossed it will be a real beauty, since it has grown quite a lot since last year and the berries are already forming! I love winterberry, but unfortunately I have never come across it in Portugal. If anyone knows of any mail order company in Europe from where I could import it, I would be eternally grateful. TIA Eduarda __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: luseal z 6-7 PA I used to plant many butterfly bushes, but not anymore. I removed at least ten of them(all) and planted three iridescent purple/blue VITEX. They look like butterfly bushes except they are prettier. The leaves are more beautiful and the spiky flowers, more lush and vibrant than a butterfly bush. I planted them in different beds and use they as a small tree. I pruned all the lower branches so I could plant under them. Unless you want a full bush( which is beautiful, if that is what you want) do not shear this shrub. Stratically prune it like a fine tree and you will be rewarded with a small 5 foot flowering tree/shrub. It needs full sun. (Did you have a sweltering hot summer in Portugal as all the other European Countries had?) __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Eduarda Z10 - Portugal Luseal, your suggestion sounds lovely, but unfortunately this is yet another plant I´ve never seen offered for sale in Portugal... I need to have a word with my favorite garden centre and see what they can come up with. We are indeed in the middle of a terrible heat wave. 13 out of the 18 districts which build up the country have been (and still are) under uncontrolable fires and most of the country´s forest has been devastated. 14 people have already died. Thousands of people have lost their homes, burnt to the ground. The government has declared a state of public calamity. Honestly, I cannot remember a more afflicting Summer. And the temperatures are still at over 110 F for we don´t know how many more days to come... __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: Iowa_Jade 5a I was reading a book on the Lewis & Clark expedition and read about a description of Symphoricarpos albus or Snowberry. They mentioned it was good for steep banks and erosion control. That is one of the main reasons that I would be interested in same. They mentioned the birds only ate it if they were REAL hungry. All parts of the plant are poisonous, except to birds. Any other choices you might reccomend? Thanks! __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: shrubs_n_bulbs z8/9 UK Symphoricarpos berries are not poisonous, they just taste really bad, that's why the birds leave them. They used to be used as a last-resort food source in winter. They can cause vomiting if you eat enough. __________________________________________________ RE: Berrying shrubs Posted by: jeff_al 8 AL (My Page) No one has mentioned skimmia japonica. have a look at joe's photo from the garden photo gallery. now, what in the world is a guy in alabama doing on the winter garden forum? *lol* __________________________________________________