The red, orange and yellows of the season are all too fleeting and quickly give way to bare branches. So how wonderful it is to be surprised by the colour purple at this time of year.

The deciduous shrub Callicarpa, also known as the Beauty Berry, is nothing special to look at over the summer. Its rather plain appearance means it can go un-noticed in the border until, sometime in early autumn, you start to notice little clusters of bead-like berries peeping through the leaves. This is usually just as the leaves themselves begin to turn golden with rose tints. As the foliage drops away, the violet purple berries gleam in bold clusters on bare stems and the shrub is transformed into a real eye-catcher.

Easy to grow, requiring little attention other than the removal of any dead branches in spring, this shrub usually grows to about 1.5 – 1.8 metres high and wide.