Autumn berries provide a shot of vibrancy to keep us - and animals - going until spring
The shortening days are not something that any of us is particularly fond of - especially gardeners, as pre-breakfast and post-work pottering becomes less and less possible. But nature has compensated by making sure that the dwindling hours of daylight are filled with deeper and more resonant colour than in any other season.
Autumn leaves are there in pigments that knock our socks off, from palest yellow through fiery oranges and reds to deepest maroon. But best of all are the berries and fruit that spangle the trees and shrubs, making them exuberantly festive and full of promise. If we were being completely anthropocentric, we might think they were put there just for us, as a bracing visual tonic: a shot of vibrancy and colour to keep us going until spring thrusts through the dark days of winter.
But no. Nature is self-serving, and most self-serving of all are her plants. Bright and shiny berries lure animals to eat them, so the survival of the plant species is ensured. In other words, the birds and other creatures that feed on the glowing, eye-catching fruits of rowan, blackberry and all the other autumn berry-bearers are working for the plant. A few hours after eating its tasty meal, the animal deposits the seed (with a bundle of fertilising droppings) in a new location, at a safe distance from the parent shrub or tree. With any luck that spot will provide a nice place for the seed to germinate, and with less attention from the pests and diseases that may have built up in the soil around the mother plant.
In general, birds (they are the chief berry-scoffers) are attracted most strongly to red berries, which means they will be eaten first, followed by orange and, finally, yellow fruits. If you're keen on feeding your feathered friends, and if you have room in your garden for more than one berrying tree or shrub, then you can extend the dining season by planting species with different-coloured fruits. The red-berried native Irish rowan or mountain ash, Sorbus aucuparia, could provide fruit in early autumn; the yellow-fruited kind, 'Joseph Rock', could offer sustenance at the hard end of the season. The latter variety is often recommended for gardeners who begrudge birds their berries, as the fruits last much longer - or may not even be eaten in some years.
To my mind, however, red is the jolliest colour for fruits. It has the longest wavelengths of all visible colours, which gives it the most punch, drawing the eye and stimulating the brain. There's probably something primal in our attraction to red, in that it is the colour of blood and excitement. It is opposite green on the colour wheel, so it complements foliage perfectly.
Our native flora is well furnished with red-berrying species: besides the mountain ash, the Sorbus genus gives us whitebeam (S. aria), with its silver-backed pale-green leaves. Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), holly (Ilex aquifolium), crab apple (Malus sylvestris), dog rose (Rosa canina), spindle (Euonymus europaeus) and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus) all have fine, rosy fruits, as does yew (Taxus baccata). Every part of yew is highly toxic to humans, but the berries are eaten by birds with no harmful effect. The red flesh, or aril, around the seed is edible, but the seed itself contains toxic alkaloids. Birds' digestive systems, unlike those of humans, are unable to break down the seed coating, so the toxins are not released, and the seed is dispersed intact in their droppings.
Black - which is to say dark - berries are also magnets for birds. Our native ivy is one of the last plants to ripen its ebony-coloured berries, producing them at the leanest part of the year, between late winter and early spring. At that time they are valuable fodder for collared doves, wood pigeons, blackbirds, thrushes and many other flying creatures. Elderberry is also beloved of birds, and its fruits are quickly stripped in early autumn.
These natives have numerous foreign relatives that also bear lovely fruits. But it's not just a case of choosing a similarly named plant and getting beauteous berries. For instance, not all Euonymus produce showy fruit (winged capsules that open up to display red or orange seeds). Many are simply evergreen hedging or ground-cover species, so choose from E. alatus, E. latifolius and E. planipes, or look for 'Red Cascade', a cultivar of our native E. europaeus. All of these have vibrant autumn foliage.
And be careful when choosing holly, as the species is usually dioecious; that is, male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Obviously, you need a female plant for berries, and there must be a male within bee-pollinating distance. The cultivar 'J.C. van Thol' is an exception, and is self-fertile. Its leaves are less prickly than most hollies'.
Another dioecious shrub is the waxy, evergreen skimmia, which bears screamingly crimson berries. One of the more popular varieties is 'Rubella', which covers itself in beady pink flower buds all winter. In early spring they froth open into creamy blossom, Alas, though, no berries, as it is a bloke. You need a female to go with it. Or you can grow the widely available Skimmia japonica subsp reevesiana, which is hermaphrodite. Strangely, although skimmia's berries are glossy and delicious-looking, they are shunned by birds here. In its native Asia there must be some frugivore - yes! an eater of fruit - that enjoys its aromatic berries, because otherwise they would not get dispersed, and the species would not survive.
Two further Asians that no self-respecting berrying garden would ever be without are pyracantha and cotoneaster. Both are popular with birds (and humans, of course) when in fruit. And in springtime, when they flower, they are bombarded by bees.
BERRY GOOD SHOW: PLANTS WITH . . .
RED BERRIES
Cotoneaster, hawthorn (Crataegus), spindle (Euonymus europaeus), ivy (Hedera helix), holly (Ilex), crab apple (Malus), pyracantha, common elder (Sambucus nigra; ornamental varieties include the golden-leaved 'Aurea' and the dusky 'Guincho Purple' and 'Black Lace'), rowans and mountain-ash species (Sorbus), yew (Taxus baccata), guelder rose (Viburnum opulus).
YELLOW AND ORANGE BERRIES
Malus 'Golden Hornet', Pyracantha 'Soleil d'Or', Sorbus 'Joseph Rock'
WHITE BERRIES
Skimmia japonica 'Fructu Albo', Sorbus species, including S. cashmiriana, S. forrestii, S. hupehensis,
S. vilmorinii and the cultivar 'Molly Sanderson', Symphoricarpos (snowberry)