Snowberry

Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) is a deciduous North American shrub grown chiefly for its striking clusters of round, waxy white berries that cling to bare branches well into winter, long after the leaves have dropped.

It forms a thicket of arching, suckering stems with small blue-green leaves and tiny pink bell-shaped summer flowers that bees love. Extremely adaptable, it tolerates sun or shade, poor soil, drought, cold and pollution, making it useful for tough sites and erosion control.

The ghostly white berries are highly decorative, valued for winter interest and as a food source for birds and other wildlife.

• Fruit: clusters of round, plump, waxy white berries, persisting on bare stems into winter
• Flowers: small, bell-shaped, pink to white, in clusters in summer; attract bees
• Leaves: small, oval, blue-green, opposite; deciduous
• Habit: dense, twiggy, suckering deciduous shrub forming thickets 3 to 6 ft tall
• Stems: slender, arching, often forming colonies

Grows in full sun to full shade and tolerates a very wide range of conditions.

• Water: adaptable; tolerates both drought and occasional wet once established
• Soil: undemanding; grows in poor, clay, chalky or rocky soils
• Temperature: very cold hardy, USDA zones 3 to 7
• Feeding: generally needs none
• Pruning: cut back in late winter to renew; spreads by suckers, so contain if needed
• Propagation: easy by division of suckers, cuttings or seed

Native to North America, ranging widely across Canada and the United States, where it grows in open woods, thickets, streambanks and rocky slopes.

Valued for its toughness, it is planted for wildlife, hedgerows, erosion control and naturalistic gardens, and has naturalized in parts of Europe where it was introduced as an ornamental and game cover.