I winter sowed beautyberry successfully and I have a small shrub growing now in my yard. It is dark out now so I can't take a picture of it. Just plant the berries and give it a try.It can't hurt. The berries I used had been picked the same year and I dried them for a few weeks and then planted them. They sprouted the following Spring!
Joann

thanks Joann
I'll ws this winter. must remember not to put them some place safe, lol
Laura

I did, and they sprouted, then died under several inches of snow.

Yes, I WS'd mine in a milk jug and eventually got 2 nice sprouts. They are now about 12" tall and in my 'baby bush' bed for overwintering. (There are also some privet (WS'd from Token's seeds) and 4 verbascum plants in that bed, too.)
Kris
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It's a nice color :)
wish me luck, I'm gonna give it a go this winter.
thanks
Laura

I failed at wintersowing these, or thought I did. Either I re-used the soil and the beautyberries came up later, or a bird planted them, because I have this large one and several small ones that I didn't plant. I have berries, which look like they are ready to be harvested. Click on the pictures to make them larger.

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Becky

Now i really ,really want one!
thanks Becky
:)Laura

Hey Guys,

For those of you who were successful with WS beauty berry bush, can you elaborate? Are they slow germinaters, fast growers? I'm sure auntyara wouldn't mind the details either. I too have very few *precious* seeds that I don't want to mess up on.

*ghoghunter- How long did it take from ws sprouts to small shrub size?

*kiddo_1- How long from WS sprouts to size in your pic?

*Ramazz - That's a great looking bush, which year did you winter sow them, and when did you take that pic?

Sorry to be so dense guys, but maybe a Step By step Guide, with an ETA? I like to micro manage in my garden. I know as winter sowers, you guys could probably understand this "NEED to KNOW every detail". LOL. Thanks in advance, -EJ

ej (et al) - I sowed (thickly) white & violet beauty berry seeds in gallon milk jugs on 3/1/09. I finally got 2 sprouts in the violet jug on 6/10/09. The whites never germinated at all. I left the violet in the jug until it was a couple of inches tall (mid-July), then transferred them (as a clump) into a 16oz plastic cup. It grew there until 2 weeks ago when I put the 12" tall baby shrub into the winter shrub bed.

I got the seeds from agirlsgirl. Too bad the white didn't germinate, but I'm looking forward to next year to see if I get any blooms on my little violet bush.

Hope this helps.

Kris

Hi Kris,

Thank you, that helps a lot. I have seeds for the purple berries and I'm in zone 5 as well, so I could follow your guidelines and, *hopefully* will have good results as well. thanks so much! -EJ

ej - I hope you have good luck. I still have a few seeds left and don't know if they would even be viable still, but I'm going to try again myself. The pics of this plant with winter berries are just beautiful!

Kris

Answering the last question first, I took the picture a couple of weeks ago. The berries are bright purple now, so I guess I can harvest some and leave some for the birds. I planted seeds a couple of years ago and honestly don't remember any of them sprouting. One of two things happened: I re-used the soil and the seeds got planted out with other plants, or the bushes I have were not planted by me, but by a bird. This is the only bush I have with berries, but I have another nice sized one and a couple seedlings (I think they are beautyberry because the leaves look the same). The randomness of locations is why I think the birds helped out.

From what I have read, there are a few seeds inside each berry. I have not tried harvesting any yet.

Becky

My Beautyberry was sown in 2005. I sowed it in the Winter and it sprouted in late Spring or early summer of 06. It is now a small shrub and has a lot of berries this year for the first time.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your all of your information. I'm afraid I'll botch it up despite all your wise council ;)

Sorry Laura for hijacking your thread.

ej in ny,
hijack away. I'm enjoying all the info. as I'm sure others are too.
:) Laura