Symphoricarpos Little Berry

Symphoricarpos ‘GRSYCHLB’ Little Berry is a new variety of exceptionally productive snowberry, whose berries persist for a very long time in winter, often until spring. The compact shrub develops dark green foliage, which in autumn serves as a setting for the profusion of intensely purple-pink fruits. The small flowers are very nectar-rich and attract bees and other pollinators, thus promoting biodiversity in the garden. Growing equally well in sun or on the edge of trees, this Snowberry adapts to most growing conditions, and can even be kept in a container. A lovely plant for decorating beds and slopes during winter.

Snowberry is a member of the Caprifoliaceae family, which today comprises only five genera, including the popular Honeysuckles (Lonicera), and the much lesser-known Heptacodium miconioides, which deserves to be planted much more widely. Snowberry Little Berry is a hybrid variety resulting from the cross-breeding between Symphoricarpos doorenboosii (itself a hybrid) and S. chenaultii, another hybrid of horticultural origin (S. microphyllus x S. orbiculatus). We owe this complex hybrid to the Dutch breeder Guido Rouwette, also the originator of varieties of Physocarpus, Lonicera and Hydrangea. He managed to draw the best from the different parents to obtain remarkable fruiting. The compact shrub develops to form a dense and irregular clump, 50 to 70 cm in all directions, made up of numerous fine and flexible branches. The elegantly arching branches bear very small, opposite, elliptical leaves measuring only about 3 cm long. The rather dark green foliage lightens a little at the end of the season, before the deciduous leaves fall to the ground. In July or August, the plant produces flowers too small to be ornamental, but rich in nectar, delighting pollinators. The flowers that appear in the leaf axils develop to give small spherical fruits in great quantity. Of an intense pink, subtly tinged with purple, the multitude of berries forms early in autumn, while the shrub still bears its leaves, then persists for a very long time in winter and even until the following spring. Clearly visible on the bare wood, this ornamental (but not edible) fruiting adds colour in winter when the sky is often dark.

Snowberry Little Berry is one of those essential and easy plants to grow. With unfailing frost resistance, it tolerates urban pollution and even sea spray. Poor or calcareous soils do not prevent it from growing, nor do areas already occupied by the roots of large trees, under whose edge it will manage to live. It is a shrub of choice for a winter bed where you can plant it alongside other plants also attractive in this frequently gloomy season. Callicarpa bodinieri 'Magical Snowstar' with white berries will be a good companion to create an animated scene in winter. In the background to avoid its prickly leaves, plant a Holly 'Madame Briot', which will not only produce brilliant red berries but will also be ornamental in all seasons due to its green foliage variegated with yellow. Also consider decorative barks, like those of Cornus stolonifera 'Flaviramea', the Yellow-twig Dogwood, which you should plant in the dampest spot of your bed. And if you have enough space, plant a tree with decorative bark, which will finish structuring your bed. Betula albosinensis 'Blason' is a Birch with fascinating reddish bark whose foliage takes on a beautiful golden colour before falling, or if you prefer amber tones, opt for Prunus maackii 'Amber Beauty', another winter wonder.