What a beauty!

  The American Beautyberry is in all of its glory right now.  The edge of the woods is a veritable sea of purple!  Back behind the canebrake, Mark and I came across yet another of these fine bushes.  We knew of the ones back near the mulch piles but this one sort of took us by surprise.  Just this past spring, it was a tiny thing.  I had made it clear that neither of the guys were to cut that bush!  No lawnmower was to ever touch any of its lovely branches!  Well, that may have just backfired on me as for one reason or another, I have had to do all of the grass cutting this summer.  Geez!  I guess I had myself to blame for that one!  (Not really, it seems that every time the grass was getting a tad tall, both Mark and Michael were either busy or ill.  I do not mind, though, as while I am the one cutting, I have the prerogative to leave whatever bush or plant that I find interesting!

  The American Beautyberry has been a favorite of mine since I was old enough to hike across the wide pond to feed the chickens in the old barn back on the farm.  There was a small plank bridge that ran the span of the pond and once I was able to toddle across without falling into the snake-infested pond, the chickens were my (and my older brother..older by one year!) responsibility.  At ages four and five, we had to tote feed across the pond to the barn, feed the chickens and pick the eggs.  This brought about my interest in the Beautyberry bush. Those gorgeous purple berries always seemed to be favorites of the hens.  They would jump up and strip down the berries all the while flapping their wings as if to fly to the moon.  The berries would scatter about on the thick layer of pine straw and send the entire flock of chickens into a feeding frenzy.  They would scurry about scratching in that pine straw as if their very lives depended on them catching every last elusive berry!

  These very same berries were used in decorating for the Halloween Carnival at the local school.  The long stalks with their numerous clusters of berries were mixed with yellow "Ditch Daisies" to make gorgeous arrangements!  (At least they seemed gorgeous to a youngster!)  Even now, I have this inexplicable desire to pick the branches and haul them inside!  There, the tiny berries can fall off after a few days and be squished into the flooring by anyone who walks near the arrangement!  Which is entirely ok if you like purple-stained floors...something  that I really would not mind in the least.  There was also a tale that Mom used to tell of how her mother used the berries to dye a wool coat.  Back in the day when it was absolutely necessary to use clothes until they were beyond repair, items were either remade or dyed to "freshen" the look.  As a child, Ruthie (my mother) had outgrown her good wool coat.  Since it was to be handed down to Helen (my aunt), the coat would need to be dyed.  Not able to afford "store-bought" dye, my grandmother picked a bucketful of the berries and boiled them to make a lovely dye.  The wool coat was then plunged into the dye to achieve a lovely shade of dark fuchsia.  I can only imagine that Helen was the only child in school with such a colorful, wool coat!

  With all of its helpful properties..dye, bug repellent (leaves repel mosquitoes and ticks), and food source (berries used in making jelly) and decorative uses..the American Beautyberry should be on the top of everyone's list as a possible yard plant.  It is quite easy to grow since once it is established, it requires absolutely no care whatsoever!  Just remember to keep the lawnmower away from it and you are good to go!