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Best shrubs for colourful berries
Brighten up your garden in autumn and winter, plus provide food for birds with these easy-to-grow bushes
Ceri studied horticulture at university and has spent her career editing gardening content. You shouldn't have favourites but she loves sweet peas!
As flowers fade, you can keep colour going in autumn by growing shrubs that produce berries.
Red might be the first berry colour that springs to mind, but they can also be orange, white, yellow, blue and even vivid metallic pink. So, you aren’t short of choice.
Which? Gardening visited the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire to assess the best plants.
Best shrubs for colourful berries
Callicarpa bodinieri var giraldii 'Profusion'
Where to buy: Crocus
This has small, light-pink flowers in mid-summer and metallic-purple berries, held in clusters along the branches. The purple-orange autumn leaves combine well with the berries, which last long after the foliage has fallen. They’re happy in any soil and in sun or part-shade. It has an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Peak berries: September to December
Height x spread: 2.5 x 2m
Clerodendrum trichotomum
Where to buy: Thompson & Morgan
Lightly fragranced white flowers with red calyces open from late summer to autumn and the calyces remain behind the metallic-blue berries, which deepen to near black. The yellow autumn leaf colour enhances the display. Grow in sun or part shade in any soil type that retains moisture. It produces suckers, so pull out any you don’t want.
Peak berries: September to November
Height x spread: 5 x 5m
Pyracantha 'Saphyr Rouge'
Where to buy: Crocus
This AGM pyracantha creates a spectacular autumn display. There are so many berries that the long stems of mature specimens arch under the weight, creating a berry cascade. Pollinators love the clusters of late-spring and early summer flowers, too. Drought-tolerant once established, it grows well in sun or part shade in any type of soil.
Peak berries: September to January
Height x spread: 2.5 x 2.5m
Skimmia japonica subsp reevesiana
Where to buy: Crocus
This skimmia has conical clusters of fragrant white flowers in spring that attract pollinators. Blooms are self-fertile, so no pollinating partner is needed to produce the large, scarlet berries, held in striking clusters that compliment the evergreen leaves. Plants like moisture-retaining clay or loam soil and prefer some shade.
Peak berries: September to January
Height x spread: 1 x 0.9m
Viburnum opulus 'Compactum'
Where to buy: Thompson & Morgan
A beautiful guelder rose with fantastic lace-cap flower heads in spring followed by a display of big, translucent red berries in autumn. They look good against the purplish red autumn leaf colour and last until they fall, providing food for birds. It has an AGM and grows well in sun or part shade in any type of soil.
Peak berries: September to November
Height x spread: 1.5 x 1.5m
Ilex x koehneana 'Chestnut Leaf'
Where to buy: Burncoose Nurseries
This is an unusual AGM holly with large, sweet-chestnut-like evergreen leaves edged with spiny teeth. Small, white spring flowers on female trees need pollination by any type of male holly to produce the impressive clusters of berries that adorn the whole tree. Grow in sun and soil that doesn’t get waterlogged or very dry.
Peak berries: October to January
Height x spread: 12 x 8m
Hippophae rhamnoides
Where to buy: Crocus; Thompson & Morgan
Narrow, grey-green leaves and huge clusters of edible (but not very tasty) berries create a stunning autumn display. Commonly known as sea buckthorn, it can grow into a small tree, but can be pruned into a hedge. Growing well in poor soil and windy, coastal locations, it likes full sun and good drainage. Male and female plants are needed for berries.
Peak berries: August to November
Height x spread: 6 x 4m