Coralberry Is a Shrub for Bird-Friendly, Naturalistic Gardens
Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus), a native plant of eastern North America), has bright pink to purple berries that feed birds.
Coralberry (Symphoricarpus orbiculatus), a deciduous shrub native to much of eastern North America, is a great candidate for naturalistic gardens, slopes and woodland edges. This spreading shrub attracts birds with its vivid winter fruits. In summer, its bell-shaped flowers feed pollinators and its foliage hosts the larvae of several kinds of moth. Its arching stems, which root where they touch soil, can help control erosion and weeds. This growth habit means coralberry requires space and strong companion plants, but given the right situation it is a low-maintenance plant perfect for wildlife-friendly landscapes and informal gardens.
Related: "Native Berries to Plant for Birds"
Common name: Coralberry
Botanical name: Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
Origin: This shrub is native to roughly the eastern half of the United States, including southern New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Southeast, the Midwest and the easternmost Great Plains. It occurs in woodlands and along stream banks.
Flowers/fruits: Light pinkish-white, bell-shaped flowers bloom in early summer along the length of the stems. Drupes ripen in autumn to a bright pink-purple. They can remain on the shrub well into winter before being eaten by birds.
Foliage: Oval, bluish-green leaves. Deciduous.
Size and habit: Coralberry is a woody shrub that grows two to five feet tall and four to eight feet wide, with arching stems that can root where they touch the ground and create a thicket. This growth habit makes it useful as a tall ground cover in a naturalistic garden, as an informal hedge or for erosion control on a slope.
Related: For evergreen erosion control, try Siberian cypress.
Growing coralberry
Exposure: Full sun to part shade
How to grow it: Symphoricarpos orbiculatus prefers full sun or part shade, average well-drained soil and moderate moisture. In a formal garden or tight quarters, this shrub would be considered high maintenance because of its propensity to spread by suckering and running stems. Avoid the need to prune or dig out stems by giving coralberry space that it can fill without overrunning smaller or weaker companions. USDA Zones 2–7.
