Well, it's not invasive, but given the right conditions (part-sun with plenty of moisture) will sucker and form colony pretty fast. It will not be attractive to butterflies since it blooms in early June, stays pretty much undescript whole summer after the bloom and then you have a spectacular show of yellow-orange-red-maroon leaves in a fall. There are some dwarf(ish) cultivars, like Little Henry that grow to 3-4' tall and full size one that could be anywhere between 5 to 7' tall BTW, correct name is Itea virginica. Beautyberry (callicarpa) could become a very large shrub. Callicarpa dichotoma is probably the smallest one and grow to 4x4 or 5x5, while our native callicarpa americana easily could be a 10' shrub. My callicarpa bodinieri 'Profusion' approaching that size too after being in a ground for 3 years only.

'The shapes of different cotinus varieties are really varied. Mine are red - royal purple, maybe? and they can't be said to have any shape at all. They send out branches in every direction, including along the ground - and take up a lot of real estate. Nothing can be planted around them, really.' Have to disagree with a last sentence. My Royal Purple cotinus planted at the back of the only 6' deep border, it's either limbed up or simply pruned every spring to 4' of the ground and it's a companions friendly if you remove all horizontal growth. It is an integral part of this 'large shrubs border' It flanked on one side by callicarpa 'Profusion' and sambucus 'Sutherland Gold' on another (too shaded and too green now, but nicely contrasts with cotinus in a spring. Also there are two hydrangeas Tardiva and physocarpus Diabolo. Six giants next to each other maybe sounds like too much, but it actualy works since they are planted 5-6' apart. They grow into each other, but overall whole group looks great because of the different foliage color and texture. All are vigorous, but prunable, so if I need to snap one stubborn branch or another it doesn't affect the whole picture. In front of this group I planted two layers of plants in a staggered pattern: hybiscus 'Lord Baltimor' (not a baby either), spireas, two peonies, caryopteris Worchester Gold (too small yet), daylilies and tall lilium davidii plus some daffodils in between. Overall starting from spring till the end of the season this group have something either blooming or otherwise interesting.

Not all callicarpas are native. Only C. americana is and it's not the most showy of all, though it is the largest one (6-8'). C. bodinieri ('Profusion', 'Early Amethist' etc) is of Chinise origin (5-6' tall) and C. dichotoma ('Issai') is from Japan (3-4' tall and as wide). All callicarpas are root hardy to z5 and stem hardy to z6, so in z5 it could be grown similarly to caryopteris or buddleia i.e. cut to 6" above the ground every spring and you'll still have flowering and berry production notwithstanding as it blooms on new wood. Shrub is practicaly desease free and seldom bothered by pests. Fruits are edible, but so bitter that even birds leave them alone untill nothing else left to eat. Therefore in a good years they persist on a bush till December-January. It's not soil demanding and could grow practicaly everywhere where drainage is not an issue. Poor soils, high or low pH is OK. Best suited for a sunny edge of the woods, but could take some shade. In such case flower/fruit production will be slightly, but insignificantly reduced. For the best cross polination (fruit production) another shrub of the same or different origin could be planted nearby. Great shrub for the fall-early winter interest, but nothing special for the rest of the year except brief period of spring bloom which usually goes unnoticed since flowers are small and covered by leaves.

Eduarda - thanks for starting this interesting discussion. When I moved into my house last summer, it already had several mature shrubs & trees. Unfortunately, all of the evergreens were in the front yard, and the backyard looked pretty bare all winter long. This summer, I've been working on converting my backyard into a 4-seasons garden. I've added: * China Girl (& Boy) Holly shrubs along the back of the property for their evergreen leaves and red berries * Dogwood shrubs (Cornus Elegantissima, Ivory Halo & Red Osier) for their red branches * Heather (Cuprea & Erica), including Erica x darleyensis - Snow Heath - for its winter flowers * Viburnum Pragense, Arborvitae Golden Globe & Juniper (Blue Star & Youngstown Andorra) for their evergreen leaves * Pyracantha Mohave for its evergreen leaves & orange berries -- not sure it will be hardy in my zone so it will be an experiment. :-) * Munstead Lavender * Sedum (Autumn Joy & Ruby Glow) - I'll wait to prune the flowers until spring. It's not even fall yet, but I'm already looking forward to seeing my garden this winter.