Love pearl bush: flowering, varieties and care

Love pearl bushes bear striking fruit and display magnificent fall foliage, depending on the species. We present the extraordinary genus of wood.

The genus of the beautiful fruits (Callicarpa) belongs to the vervain family (Verbenaceae). The approximately 100 species of the genus Callicarpa come from the tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, Australia and North and Central America. The name "Callicarpa" goes back to the Greek word "kallíkarpos", which roughly means "rich in beautiful fruits". In our latitudes, the love pearl bush was introduced as an ornamental tree and there are about six species in the nurseries in propagation. We will introduce you to the unusual tree and give tips on choosing a variety, planting and caring for the love pearl bush.

Love pearl bush: flower, berries and properties

The beauty fruit is a shrub that is usually 2 to 3 m high, in exceptional cases even reaching 4 m in height and up to 2.5 m wide. The deciduous, opposite leaves of the species represented by us are about 5 to 12 cm long and elliptically pointed. In autumn, the matt green and rough-to-the-touch foliage of the beauty fruit turns light yellow to orange. The numerous flowers of the beauty fruit attract numerous bumblebees, hoverflies and bees during the flowering period from June to August. Even on young plants, the stalked, light purple inflorescences appear on the two-year-old wood in the leaf axils of the plant. The initially light green fruits need some time to develop and only in autumn does the shrub present itself with its purple berry-like drupes. There are now also white-fruited beauty fruit varieties on the market. They have a shiny surface, can be up to 4 mm thick and appear in cymes. In the garden, beautiful fruit bushes are a feast for the eyes that quickly attract everyone's attention. The shrub's conspicuous blue, violet or white drupes remain on the bare branch until about December and thus add a touch of color to the wintry landscape. As a bird food tree, the fruits of the beauty fruit offer additional food in winter.

The most popular types and varieties of beauty fruit

There are different types and varieties of beauty fruit shrubs to choose from. We introduce you to the best types and varieties of love pearl bushes.

• Callicarpa americana: American beauty fruit with a growth height of 1.8 to 2.4 m and felty hairy leaves. The fruits are red-violet and occur in cymes.
• Callicarpa bodinieri ˈMagical Purple Giantˈ: Up to 3 m tall shrub with light violet fruits and red-orange autumn colours.
• Callicarpa bodinieri ˈProfusionˈ: Love pearl bush with a height of 2 to 4 m and a spread of up to 2.5 m. Deciduous shrub and light yellow to orange autumn colour.
• Callicarpa dichotoma ˈIssaiˈ: Filigree and weakly growing purple love pearl bush with 2 m height and 1.5 m width. Very hardy variety with small, red-violet fruits and purple autumn colours.
• Callicarpa giraldii: Chinese beauty fruit with a height and width of 2 to 3 m. Makes about 4 mm large, glossy purple fruits in autumn.
• Callicarpa japonica ˈLeucocarpaˈ: Japanese beauty fruit with a growth height and width of 1.5 to 2.5 m. This love pearl shrub forms white fruits that peep out particularly conspicuously from the deciduous foliage.

Is the beauty fruit poisonous?

The pretty Fruits of the love pearl bush are poisonous to humans and pets such as cats or dogs. The beauty fruit is therefore not edible – however, small children in particular can be attracted to the colorful fruit. If small children often play in the garden unsupervised, you should avoid planting a beauty fruit. The berry-shaped drupes of the love pearl bush are edible for birds and some species like to use them in winter.

Planting a love pearl bush: You should pay attention to this

As with most shrubs, the best time to plant the beauty fruit is in late autumn - from October to November - or alternatively in early spring in March. The love pearl bush can be planted individually as a large bush. If the pollination and thus the fruit set should be better, you can also plant several plants together at a distance of about 2 meters from each other.

The ideal location for the love pearl bush is sunny and protected on light to moderately heavy and evenly moist, acidic to slightly acidic soil. The shrub hardly thrives on clearly calcareous locations and dies after a few miserable years. Even with an acidic substrate, these soils can only be made suitable with difficulty, since the roots reach deep into the soil and there they quickly encounter calcareous soil. With the help of acidic potting soil, such as rhododendron substrate, at least neutral or slightly alkaline soils can be made suitable for the love pearl bush. Before planting, first loosen the soil over a large area and work in acidic soil if necessary. Above all, the acidic substrate should be placed deep in the future planting hole, since the Love pearl shrub hardly branched roots and especially vertical roots that hardly go to the side spread, form.

Now put your beautiful fruit bushes in the prepared planting hole, fill it with soil, press it down well and then water it vigorously. In this way, the roots of the love pearl bush come into contact with the ground and can grow well. With new plantings in late autumn and young shrubs up to their third year, be sure to think of good winter protection.

Tip: A surface layer of bark mulch is decomposed and promoted over time by soil organisms hence the acidification of the soil, so that the milieu for the beauty fruit shrub is preserved and improved. However, these mulch materials bind the essential nutrient nitrogen when they decompose, so that a Compensatory fertilization makes sense in order to provide the beautiful fruit with sufficient care and no deficiency symptoms to evoke.

We recommend ours here Plantura organic universal fertilizer, which is worked into the surface under the bark mulch and slowly and evenly releases the nutrients there as a long-term fertilizer.

Planting a love pearl bush summary:

• Planting time: late autumn or early spring
• Location: Sunny and sheltered
• Soil: Acidic to slightly acidic
• Planting distance: about 2 meters

Love pearl bush: care

The love pearl bush is a fairly easy-care tree and is therefore also well suited for beginners when gardening. We give tips on the most important care measures, fertilization and cutting the beauty fruit.

Pour and fertilize beauty fruit

The beauty fruit prefers an even water supply and should never be completely dry, even in midsummer. In hot summers, water especially young plants in the morning and cover the soil under the Shrub covered with a mulch layer of bark, plant clippings or leaves to reduce evaporation to decrease. Established, older shrubs usually do without any additional watering. The situation is different with love pearl bushes in pots, because here they have to be watered regularly and on the other hand, waterlogging with the help of a 3 to 5 cm thick drainage layer and good drainage be prevented. In general, the love pearl bush does not have to be fertilized extra. However, you can encourage the growth of newly planted shrubs with a slow release fertilizer worked into the surface, like ours Plantura organic universal fertilizer, support. The predominantly organic fertilizer granules are slowly decomposed by soil organisms and thus release their nutrients for the plant roots over a long period of time.

Cut love pearl bush

The love pearl bush tolerates pruning well and can easily be cut back immediately after flowering to keep it in shape. If the shrubs get too big and start to bare or hardly bloom anymore, you should cut back heavily once. This pruning by about half the length of the branches, which is necessary every three to four years, can be done between November and the beginning of March when the love pearl bush is dormant. Branches that are too long, bare, growing inward, or branches that have been damaged by frost are cut off with sharp pruning shears. After pruning, the beauty fruit sprout fresh and will only bear flowers and fruit again the following year on the two-year-old wood.

Propagating love pearl bush

Love pearl bushes can be propagated by sowing and cuttings. The seeds of the beauty fruit are in the berry-shaped drupes. Sowing can take place indoors all year round. To do this, soak the seeds of the love pearl bush in lukewarm water for about 24 hours. Before sowing, fill a seed tray or pots with a low-nutrient potting soil like ours Plantura Organic Herb & Seed Soil. Sow the soaked seeds about 1 cm deep in the ground, moisten them well and let them germinate at about 20 °C. The love pearl bush needs about two to three weeks to germinate with even moisture and warmth. After a few weeks, the first real leaves appear and the plants can be repotted or planted outside.

Young, one-year-old shoots of the beauty fruit can be cut in June and August for the propagation of cuttings. To do this, cut off annual shoots without berries to a length of about 10 cm and remove all leaves except for the top one and put the pieces of shoots in a pot filled with a mixture of potting soil and a third of sand cultivation vessel. Only the top leaves and about 1 cm of the stem should stick out of the ground. Keep the soil well moist over the next few weeks and place the cuttings in a cool and bright place at around 10 to 15°C. The rooted beauty fruit bushes spend the winter frost-free and with economical water supply in the house. The love pearl bushes are not planted out until the following spring.

Is the love pearl bush hardy?

The beauty fruit is mostly hardy with us. Many varieties, such as Callicarpa dichotoma ˈIssaiˈ, also tolerate colder temperatures down to -20 °C. However, cold winters, which can also occur here, are particularly hard on young beauty fruit bushes. A large part of the shrub can freeze back here. The plants are therefore grateful for a winter protection of leaves and compost on the ground and a fleece or jute covering of the above-ground part in young and newly planted shrubs. From around the third year, all beauty fruit shrubs are hardy. Love pearl bushes in tubs should be wintered frost-free in the garden shed or shed, because here there is a risk that the soil in the pot will freeze through, including the sensitive roots and the whole plant dies.

Another beautiful tree with autumn colors is the service pear, which also produces delicious fruits and provides food for bees and birds.