Rewilding My Lot

American Beautyberry prefers to grow in part shade. I planted mine in May 2023 in a bed close to the back of the house. This is indeed a part-shade situation, but the sun it does get is hot afternoon sun and being newly planted and then subject to weeks of blistering heat and drought, it was looking a bit droopy.

To get it through the summer, I moved a chair in front of it to give it some extra shade, and it also got water from a can most days.

Then, after a good rainfall in August it really perked up. The leaves are no longer wilted, I haven’t needed to give supplemental water, and there is new growth starting.

Some people make jam from the berries of this plant, but I am more likely to leave them for the birds.