This shrub graces the Chalice Well Gardens where I do volunteer gardening once a week. I was weeding the long border and every visitor came up and asked me what it was. I'm a keen gardener but I don't know the name of all the plants in the garden, including this one, so I wandered off to find Ark, the head gardener, to ask what it was (he knows the name of every plant in the garden!).
So, in an effort to expand my gardening knowledge I shall record my encounters with plants both garden and wild.
Callicarpa or Beauty Berry -a native of south east Asia/Australasia. Deciduous. The purple berries are very astringent and the birds don't usually eat them until there's nothing else left! Apparently you can make the berries into wine or jelly but you'd probably need huge amounts of sugar to make it palatable. Just admire them and leave them for the birds.
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