Beautyberry Seed

I just dried out the berries without removing any seed. I looked into it after instead of before.
Will the dried berries still produce plants?
Thanks for your help (please)
Honey

I should think so. My reference indicates chilling the seed within the ripe fruit before sowing. Just mix the seed with sharp sand and put in a seed flat. Leave it outside for the winter to let the fruit decompose. Then plant the clean seed in spring with a standard seed mix. Germination will take 3-4 months. Good luck!

Thanks SO Very Much.
Honey

Good luck ~ I haven't actually tried this. Please post your results... pod

Hey threre,
I was starting to look for beautyberry seeds to start online . Would you be interested in trading with me for a few or those dried berries? I'm also in your zone and wonder if it gets cold enough here to chill this plant enough. It says only to zone 8 on plant files. So you know what that means?
Lydia

Lydia ~ I hope Macybee will have the answer..

In my zone, there is a wild BB. It definitely thrives here.

A favorite book of mine, Pick the Right Plant ~ says zones 5-10... I don't mean to be critical of the PlantFiles but they are pretty generic on info and I think only as accurate and the people submitting the info. If an error is found, it is usually not challenged to correct it.

wonderearth--they'll definitely grow in your version of zone 9. Some plants that don't do well with brutal summer heat will get marked as only up to zone 7 or 8 or so (even though zones have nothing to do with summer heat). Plants like that often won't do well in the south where they get really hot summers, but where you are your summers are mild so I would completely ignore the warm end of the zone range that's given on plants, just make sure at the cold end it'll get by in zone 9 and you should do fine.

Thank you ecrane - I could not have said what I don't know.
Thank You all for your input.
Wonderearth I sent you a d-mail.

Wow. That is some really encouraging info. I was thinking that all these plants needed winter chill or something and thats why they stop at zone 8. This opens up a whole new realm.

Wonderearth-I live in Coastal Louisiana 9a and beautyberry is listed as a native here. They grow very well in our heat and humidity and lack of cold winters.

I've grown them here and they're fine, lots of pretty berries. I had figured the zone 8 upper limit might have been lack of tolerance of summer heat, but if dobra's growing them in Louisiana then that's not the case either, I have a feeling it's probably an error.

I think it grows in colder weather too.. I saw the purple beautyberry in the Bronx Botanical garden outside without any protections except some nearby small trees. It was quite a large bush too.. So I don't think it was new or had extra protection..

It's a considered a native plant here in VA. I'm attempting to propagate 4 starts from some branches given to me by one of my MG class mates. They seem to be doing well.

According to the Sunset Western Garden book, the Beautyberry is content with the entire Western US with the exception of the desert areas in California, Arizona & New Mexico and of the coldest mountain areas. I don't think heat is so much a problem as the lack of water. Dotti

Good to hear I'm going to start some seeds as well.

Beautyberries (Callicarpa) are one of the types of seed that do very will with GA-3. They still straggle in over several months, but it speeds things up, much like a prechill. They also do better if the seed is about two years old. Just planting the berries now should work fine, just expect to see seedlings popping up in the pot for up to a couple of seasons.

I am currently in zone 10b and my next door neighbor has a lovely beautyberry bush right on my property line. It is doing great, and it grew a lot over the hot summer here. Here's a shot I took of it today. The berries are very pretty. I think you'll be fine in your zone!

They are so lovely, and my little guys are not so little I moved them up to 3 inches pots, they have nice root system established so I have my fingers crossed. :)

The photo I took does not do the plant justice. The berries are so bright and the bush is very attractive. Good luck....I will also be interested to hear how your babies do!! It sounds like you are well on your way! My neighbor's bush is in part shade, so that may explain why it does so nicely in zone 10b.