origin
Of the Love pearl bush is botanically called Callicarpa and has several common names. In addition to the enthusiastic term 'love pearl bush', it is also called beautiful fruit, purple beautiful fruit or Chinese beautiful fruit. This would also clarify the question of its origin. In fact, the love pearl bush comes from the central and western areas of China. There it populates lowlands and altitudes of up to 3400 meters.
also read
- Find a location for the love pearl bush
- Love pearl bush: how do you keep and care for it in the bucket?
- Love pearl bush: sweet temptation or poisonous?
Here in Central Europe, but also in temperate climates in other parts of the world, the shrub is often kept as an ornamental plant in public green spaces and private gardens.
Origin at a glance:
- Originally from central and western China
- populates lowlands and altitudes of up to 3400 meters
- Cultivated as an ornamental plant in many parts of the world in temperate climates
growth
The love pearl bush shows an upright growth with slightly sparse branches. In suitable locations, it can reach heights of two to three meters and can also expand up to two meters in width. Its loose, but richly branched shrubbery make it, apart from its high ornamental value, also a very effective privacy screen Property boundaries.
Growth characteristics in brief:
- Upright growth, sparse branching
- up to 2-3 m high, 2 m wide
- loose, but privacy-protecting shrubbery
leaves
The leaves of the love pearl bush set with medium-long stems opposite to the branch shoots, which are downy hairy on the tips of the young. They have an elliptical shape that is pointed at the base and end of the stem with a gently sawn edge and are about 5 to 17 centimeters long and 2 to 10 centimeters wide.
The deciduous leaves turn yellow to red-orange in autumn and fall off towards winter.
blossoms
The flowers of the love pearl bush are also very pretty, but of course they are in the shadow of the really spectacular fruits. The inflorescences are zymös and are axillary in a branched umbel around the shoots. The individual, small, four-fold flowers have a light purple color, from which the honey-yellow glands of the petals that are enthroned above stand out like a foam crown.
The love pearl bush flowers open from the end of June and stay until August. During this time they are only too fond of bees, Bumblebees, Butterflies and other beneficial insects swarmed around.
Flowers in key words:
- Branched, axillary umbels
- small single flowers in light purple with a honey-yellow crown of petals
- Flowering period from late June to August
- Popular insect pasture
fruit
After blooming, the striking fruits appear, which gave the shrub its name. They actually look almost like the small, colorful sugar pearls that are traditionally sold as confectionery, especially at fairs.
Like the flowers, the round fruits, which are about 4 mm in diameter, also appear in purple, but in a much stronger nuance. They shine clearly, which reinforces the association with the sweet sugar pearls. They hang 30 to 40 in clusters on the branches and delight eye mostly into December. As a result, the fruit stands are particularly suitable for Christmas, decorative arrangements, bouquets and wreaths made from natural produce.
For some birds, the fruits are also a valuable source of food in the colder days of the drawing-out year.
The love pearl fruits at a glance:
- Appear as purple, shiny, small globular fruits in clusters of grapes
- Strongly reminiscent of the love pearls made of sugar
- Remain on the shrub until winter
- Very nice ingredient for natural decoration
- Birds like to eat them
Which location is suitable?
The love pearl bush prefers to be in a sunny to partially shaded, protected location. It should be protected from harsh winds as much as possible and should therefore be surrounded by other hedge plants rather than exposed. It has medium demands on the soil - it thrives best on humus-rich, rather loose soils that guarantee good drainage and are still evenly moist. If possible, the pH value should not go into the alkaline range.
To note:
- Location as sunny and warm as possible
- Well protected from sharp winds
- Soil humic, well drained and slightly acidic rather than calcareous
Continue reading
Hardy
The beautiful fruit is generally hardy - the Profusion variety, which is the best-selling in this country, is particularly resistant. So you don't have to worry about your shrub even in freezing temperatures.
It looks different with newly planted young specimens. They are still a bit sensitive to frost, especially in the first winter. If the first winter after planting is particularly cold and longer phases with severe minus degrees with it If necessary, you should cover the young shrub with burlap and the root area with fir branches cover.
To note:
- Love pearl bush is generally very hardy
- Protect newly planted young specimens in the first winter when it is very cold
Water the love pearl bush
Once a beautiful fruit is established in its location, you don't actually need to water it specially. At most, you can water the shrub properly once in the summer when it doesn't rain for weeks. Otherwise, regular watering is only necessary for the first time after planting a young shrub.
Fertilize the love pearl bush properly
A separate addition of nutrients is also not necessary with the love pearl bush. When planting, however, you can have a long-term supply with gentle, organic fertilizers such as compost or Horn shavings(€ 32.93 at Amazon *) include.
What is the best time to plant?
As with most garden trees, the best time to plant a love pearl bush is spring. Then he has enough time to establish himself at his location and to gather some strength before his first winter there.
What soil does the plant need?
To plant the shrub, dig a large planting hole and first fill it with a drainage layer of pebbles or Clay granules the end. Fill the main part with a sandy soil mixture enriched with leaf earth and horn shavings, insert the root ball and fill it all around completely. Finally, a final covering layer with bark mulch is recommended, which protects the root ball from drying out and from extreme cold.
The correct planting distance
A love pearl bush in solitary position is certainly a decorative highlight in the garden. Nevertheless, something speaks in favor of planting several specimens next to each other. Because the Callicarpa giraldii belongs to the cross-pollinators, you will get more fruit decorations with a group of several individuals.
When planting in rows, the bushes are placed at a distance of at least 200 centimeters from one another.
Cut the love pearl bush correctly
A cut is only necessary about every three years for the moderately fast-growing love pearl bush. Otherwise, at some point it can look unkempt and bald from the inside.
Make the cut in very early spring, around February or March. You can safely proceed in a relatively radical way. In any case, remove all old, dead branches and all shoots that are beyond their main fertility. You can determine whether this is the case in the previous year by observing the berry hangings and, if necessary, marking the shoots that are no longer so productive. If some of the shoots are otherwise still visually disturbing due to their excess length, shorten these as well.
In the middle of the year you have to reckon with a less abundant abundance of flowers and fruits, but the shrub sprouts all the more vigorously in the following year.
Cutting rules in brief:
- Rejuvenating pruning approximately every three years
- Cutting back time: late winter / early spring
- Cut off all old shoots and those that have outgrown their main fruiting period
- Shorten branches that are too long to give shape
Continue reading
In the bucket
If you are a big fan of the love pearl bush but do not have a garden available to plant, you can keep a specimen in the tub on the balcony or terrace. There are similar things to consider here as with outdoor planting. So you should be able to offer the shrub as sunny a place as possible in your outdoor area. Make the substrate in the pot as rich in humus as possible and provide it with good drainage made of clay granulate or gravel.
You have to water regularly with the tub culture due to the lower plant base volume, but waterlogging is to be avoided as much as possible. An occasional fertilizer in the form of some compost in the spring is good for the shrub in the bucket. Caution: In winter, the love pearl bush in the bucket must be separately protected from the cold - it is best to wrap the pot properly with sackcloth or Garden fleece and cover the upper substrate layer with fir branches.
Continue reading
Propagate love pearl bush
The Callicarpa giraldii can be propagated in two ways: by cuttings or by sowing.
Cuttings
For Cut cuttings In summer, preferably in July, remove young, not yet lignified shoots about 15 to 20 centimeters in length from the shrub. Make sure that the shoot has at least two buds. You can cut the lower end of the cut in Rooting powder dive. You put the cuttings prepared in this way into a planter Potting soilthat you cover with foil. One is even better Mini greenhouse,(€ 25.14 at Amazon *) to ensure an evenly moist and protected microclimate. The ambient temperature should not be too warm.
Seed cultivation
A new love pearl bush can also be grown from seeds. This is possible all year round - however, it is recommended in phases outside of the natural germination time, a pretreatment in the form of a 24-hour soak or a Cold stratification. With the latter method, the husks of the seeds are roughened by storing them and regularly turning them over in a fine, preferably sterile, peat-sand mixture.
The seeds prepared in this way are placed very deep in a planter with a sandy growing substrate. Under a foil cover or the lid of a mini greenhouse, it is best to keep the whole thing evenly moist. Place the planter in a bright and warm place at around 20 ° C. The seedlings should show up after about 2-3 weeks. Prick these out as soon as a pair of leaves appears. The young plants are planted out after the first winter at the earliest.
Continue reading
Is love pearl bush poisonous?
Particularly in view of the naming, which is based on the sweet sugar pearl nibble, it is important to know: The tempting-looking berries of the love pearl bush are not edible and even light poisonous. The fact that birds like to indulge in it in winter could also give some people the idea of trying it out themselves.
However, the berries contain substances that are toxic to humans. These include above all the terpenoids Callicarpenal, Spathulenol, Intermedeol, which are available in higher doses trigger all of the usual, natural elimination mechanisms through the body such as nausea and Vomit. The substance borneol can also irritate the skin.
However, there is hardly any serious risk of poisoning. Because of the strongly bitter taste of the berries, hardly anyone will voluntarily consume the amount required for this. Nevertheless, caution is of course not wrong.
Continue reading
Tip:
The terpenoids contained in the love pearl bush make its plant parts inedible for the Consumption, but they are also an effective remedy against mosquitoes and other biting insects known. For example, the leaves can simply be grated and applied to the skin.
sorts
By far the most popular variety is Callicarpa giraldii 'Profusion'. However, there are also a few representatives of other varieties.
Callicarpa giraldii 'Profusion'
The variety draws its charm mainly from the beautifully-looking fruit stands. But the autumn leaves are also quite refreshing, as are the umbels with their delightful color combination of delicate purple the flowers and the honey yellow of the petal glands - this is also the main distinguishing feature from the other Callicarpa species.
The flowers appear in summer from the end of June, the berries then begin to ripen from September. The 'Profusion' variety is characterized by its good winter hardiness, but a newly planted shrub should be protected in the first year.
Callicarpa bodineri 'Leucocarpa'
The species Callicarpa bonideri grows somewhat more upright and stringent than Callicarpa giraldii. With this variant, you can expect a height of up to 3 meters. At the same time, the shrub remains a bit slimmer with a maximum of 2.50 meters. In summer from July onwards, the shrub delights with violet to pink-colored flowers that hang in large numbers on long umbels. The resulting berries do not differ in their splendid, glossy purple color and abundance from those of C. giraldii.
Callicarpa americana
The species Callicarpa americana, which comes from America, shows a habitus very similar to Callicarpa giraldii with a bushy, somewhat sparse growth of up to 2.40 meters in height. The leaves are slightly different with their light green color and felty hair.
Another difference is the much earlier flowering period, which lasts from May to June.
The fruits have almost the same, metallic, shimmering, purple appearance as in Callicarpa giraldii - however, they are not poisonous and even enjoyable in terms of taste. The mosquito-repellent substances are primarily contained in the leaves and are traditionally used in America for this purpose in cattle.
