With a difference

Red may be the first colour that springs to mind, but fruiting plants come in a range of less obvious options that are equally – sometimes even more – lovely, says Graham Rice

CLEVER thing, nature. Take berries, which are ultimately just a highly efficient method of seed dispersal. The bird eats the berry then, as it flies around, its juices digest the fleshy part and start to break down the skin of the seed inside. The bird then excretes the seed, which germinates in its new location and – tadah! – a new plant grows in a new place.

Many berries mature to bright colours, catching the birds’ attention while attracting other creatures that also play a part in seed distribution. Red has the advantage of showing up well whatever the weather; hence it’s the colour we see on most berried shrubs in the wild (rose hips and hawthorn), as well as in gardens – cotoneaster and pyracantha.

But many plants produce berries in other colours: orange, yellow, white, pink, lilac, purple, black and blue. I used to think that there was a sort of hierarchy of berry colours: red ones were eaten first, then orange, then yellow, with black ones left the longest. But it’s not that simple. Palatability plays a part, as does the generosity of the fruit crop in general in any given year, together with the availability of other foods.

I have a feeling that, as berries mature and ripen, so their chemical content (and thus their nutritional value) changes – just as it does with apples or pears. Birds pick up on this and choose berries at the stage that best suits their needs.

Berried treasures

In the garden, planting berried shrubs is an important part of attracting and helping to conserve wildlife; but the ornamental aspects also matter to us. And while everyone plants varieties with red berries – what about the rest?

And what about plants with berries that change colour as they develop? Many start out green and mature to brighter colours. Some, including grapes and gooseberries, even ripen to green – although these are bottom of the list when it comes to ornamental value.

Most dramatic amongst those that change colour are the viburnums, including the native wayfaring tree,

V. lantana, with berries that mature from red to black, and ‘Pink Beauty’, the fruits of which start pale green and mature through white, pink and blue to black – with all the colours sometimes seen at the same time in the same cluster.

There really is a rainbow of berries to be had. Isn’t it time you tried some in a colour other than red?