The fruits of the Chinese love pearl bush radiate from its branches like precious pearl necklaces. We have long since discovered the beauty of this magnificent play of colors for the beautification of parks and gardens. And the best thing: the love pearl bush is also easy to care for.
What is the love pearl bush and how do you care for it?
The love pearl bush (Callicarpa) is an attractive ornamental tree with bright, pearl-like berries and pretty flowers. It originally comes from China, prefers sunny to partially shaded locations, humus-rich and well-drained soils, and is generally hardy.
Origin
The love pearl bush is botanically called Callicarpa and has several common names. In addition to the enthusiastic name 'love pearl bush', it is also called beautiful fruit, purple beautiful fruit or Chinese beautiful fruit. This would also clarify the question of his origins. In fact, the love pearl bush comes from the central and western areas of China. There it inhabits lowlands and altitudes of up to 3400 meters.
In Central Europe, but also in temperate climate zones in other parts of the world, the shrub is often kept as an ornamental plant in public parks 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 temperate regions of the world
Growth
The love pearl bush shows an upright growth with slightly sparse branching. In suitable locations it can grow to be two to three meters high and also extends up to two meters wide. In addition to its high ornamental value, its loose but richly branched shrubbery also makes it a very effective privacy screen at 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 have medium-long stems that attach oppositely to the branch shoots, which have fluffy hair on the young tips. They have an elliptical shape, tapered at the stem base and end, with a gently serrated edge and are about 5 to 17 centimeters long and 2 to 10 centimeters wide.
In autumn, the deciduous leaves turn yellow to red-orange and fall off in winter.
Flowers
The flowers of the love pearl bush are also very pretty, but of course they are overshadowed by the really spectacular fruits. The inflorescences are zymous and stand axillary in a branched umbel around the shoots. The individual, small, four-petaled flowers have a light purple color, from which the honey-yellow glands of the petals above stand out like a foamy crown.
The love pearl bush flowers open at the end of June and stay until August. During this time they are only too happy to be swarmed by bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other beneficial insects.
Flowers in keywords:
- Branched, axillary umbels
- small individual flowers in light violet with honey-yellow petals
- Flowering period from end of June to August
- Popular insect pasture
Fruit
After flowering, 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 small spherical fruits, which are approximately 4 mm in diameter, are also purple, but in a much stronger shade. They clearly shine, which reinforces the association with the sweet sugar pearls. 30 to 40 of them hang on the branches in grape-like bunches and usually delight the eye until December. This means that the fruit stands are particularly suitable for Christmas-time, decorative arrangements, bouquets and wreaths made from natural products.
For some birds, the fruits are also a valuable source of food in the colder days of the coming year.
The love pearl fruits at a glance:
- Appear as purple, shiny, small spherical fruits in grape-like clusters
- Reminiscent of the sugar love beads
- Stay on the bush until winter
- Very pretty 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 if possible and should therefore be surrounded by other hedge plants rather than left exposed. It has medium demands on the soil - it thrives best on humus-rich, rather loose soils that ensure good drainage and are still evenly moist. If possible, the pH value should not go into the alkaline range.
To remember:
- Location as sunny and warm as possible
- Well protected from strong winds
- Soil humus, permeable and slightly acidic rather than calcareous
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hardy
The beautiful fruit is generally hardy - the best-selling Profusion variety in this country is particularly insensitive. 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 somewhat sensitive to frost, especially in the first winter. If the first winter after planting is particularly cold and involves longer phases of extremely sub-zero temperatures, you should, if necessary, wrap the young bush with burlap and cover the root area with fir branches.
To remember:
- Love pearl bush generally very hardy
- Protect newly planted young specimens in the first winter when temperatures are very below zero
Watering the love pearl bush
Once a beautiful fruit is established in its location, you don't actually need to water it much. Only in summer phases when it doesn't rain for weeks can you water the shrub properly. Otherwise, regular watering is only necessary in the initial period after planting a young bush.
Fertilize the pearl bush properly
A separate nutrient addition is also not necessary for the love pearl bush. When planting, however, you can include a long-term supply of gentle, organic fertilizer such as compost or horn shavings.
What is the best time to plant?
As with most garden shrubs, the best time to plant a love pearl bush is spring. Then he has enough time to establish himself at his location and gather some strength before his first winter there.
What soil does the plant need?
To plant the shrub, dig out a large planting hole and first fill it with a drainage layer of pebbles or clay granules. Fill the main part with a sandy soil mixture enriched with leaf mold and horn shavings, insert the root ball and fill completely all around. Finally, we recommend a final covering layer of bark mulch, which protects the root ball from drying out and from extreme cold.
The correct planting distance
A love pearl bush in a solitary position is certainly a decorative highlight in the garden. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for planting several specimens next to each other. Because the Callicarpa giraldii is a cross-pollinator, you will get more fruit decorations if you have several individuals in a group.
When planting in rows, plant the bushes at a distance of at least 200 centimeters from each other.
Cut the love pearl bush correctly
Pruning is only necessary about every three years for the moderately fast-growing love pearl bush. Otherwise, it can eventually appear unkempt and bald from the inside.
Make the cut in very early spring, around February or March. You can proceed relatively radically. In any case, remove all old, dead branches and any shoots that are past their prime. You can determine whether this is the case the previous year by observing the berries and, if necessary, marking the shoots that are no longer so productive. If some shoots are visually disturbing because they are too long, shorten them too.
In the year of pruning you have to expect fewer flowers and fruits, but the bush will sprout even more vigorously the following year.
Cutting rules in brief:
- Rejuvenating pruning approximately every three years
- Pruning time: late winter/early spring
- Cut off all old shoots and shoots that have outgrown their main fruiting period
- Short branches that are too long to give shape
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In the bucket
If you are a big fan of the love pearl bush but don't have a garden to plant in, you can also keep a specimen in a pot on the balcony or terrace. Similar things need to be taken into account as with outdoor planting. You should be able to offer the shrub the sunniest possible spot 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 granules or gravel.
You of course have to water regularly when growing in containers due to the smaller planting base volume, but waterlogging should be avoided as much as possible. An occasional addition of fertilizer in the form of a little compost in the spring is good for the shrub in the pot. Caution: In winter, the pearl bush in the pot must be protected from the cold separately - it is best to wrap the pot neatly with burlap or garden fleece and cover the upper substrate layer with fir branches.read more
Propagate love pearl bush
The Callicarpa giraldii can be propagated in two main ways: by cuttings or by sowing.
Cuttings
For cuttings, cut off young, not yet woody shoots about 15 to 20 centimeters long from the bush in summer, preferably in July. Make sure that the shoot has at least two buds. You can dip the lower end of the cut in rooting powder before planting. Place the prepared cutting in a planter with potting soil and cover it with foil. A mini greenhouse is even better 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, in phases outside of the natural germination period, pre-treatment in the form of a 24-hour soak or cold stratification is recommended. In the latter method, the seed shells are roughened by storing and regularly turning them over in a fine, preferably sterile peat-sand mixture.
Place the seeds prepared in this way deep in a planter with sandy growing soil. It is best to keep the whole thing evenly moist under a foil cover or the closing lid of a mini greenhouse. Place the planter bright and warm at around 20°C. The seedlings should appear after about 2-3 weeks. Prick these out as soon as a pair of leaves appears. The young plants are not planted out until after the first winter at the earliest.read more
Is love pearl bush poisonous?
Especially in view of the naming, which is based on the sweet sugar pearl snack, it is important to know: The tempting-looking berries of the love pearl bush are not edible and are even slightly poisonous. The fact that birds like to feast on them in winter might also give some people the idea to try them themselves.
However, the berries contain substances that are toxic to humans. These primarily include the terpenoids callicarpenal, spathulenol and intermedeol, which in higher doses trigger common, natural elimination mechanisms through the body, such as nausea and vomiting. The substance borneol can also be irritating to the skin.
However, there is hardly any serious risk of poisoning. Because of the strongly bitter taste of the berries, hardly anyone will consume the required amount voluntarily. Of course, it's still a good idea to be careful.read more
Tip:
The terpenoids contained in the love pearl bush make its plant parts inedible for consumption, but they are also known as an effective remedy against mosquitoes and other biting insects. For example, the leaves can simply be crushed and applied to the skin.
Varieties
By far the most commonly sold variety is Callicarpa giraldii 'Profusion'. Representatives of other varieties are also occasionally available.
Callicarpa giraldii ‘Profusion’
The variety draws its appeal primarily from the beautiful fruit clusters. But the autumn foliage color is also quite refreshing, as are the umbellate flowers with their attractive color combination of the delicate purple of 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 variety 'Profusion' is characterized by good winter hardiness, but a newly planted shrub should still be protected in the first year.
Callicarpa bodineri ‘Leucocarpa’
The species Callicarpa bonideri grows somewhat more upright and stringently than Callicarpa giraldii. With this variant you can expect a growth height of up to 3 meters. At the same time, the shrub remains somewhat slimmer at a maximum of 2.50 meters. In summer from July onwards, the shrub delights with violet to pink flowers, which hang in large numbers on long umbels. The resulting berries do not differ from those of C. giraldii in their magnificent, shiny purple color and abundance.
Callicarpa americana
The species Callicarpa americana, which comes from America, has a habit that is very similar to Callicarpa giraldii with a bushy, somewhat sparse growth of up to 2.40 meters high. The leaves are somewhat different with their light green color and their felty hairs.
Another difference is the significantly earlier flowering period, which lasts from May to June.
The fruits have virtually the same metallic, shimmering, purple appearance as Callicarpa giraldii - but they are not poisonous and even taste good. The mosquito-repellent substances are primarily contained in the leaves and are also traditionally used in livestock in America.
