Fruitful Plants in the Garden
by: Jeff Epping

Walking through the gardens at Olbrich recently, the plants that caught my eye most were those with showy displays of fruit. Maybe I've finally had my fill of brightly colored flowers after an excellent growing season and my attention is now drawn to the more subtle beauties in the garden.  Or, maybe it's because fall is my favorite season and I'm ready for the cool, crisp weather and the beauty of vibrantly colored fall foliage. I'm definitely ready to reflect on another hectic growing season and start to think about new designs to make the garden even better next year -- I hope!

There are many plants with beautiful fruit displays, but several specimens in particular caught my eye while strolling through the gardens. Those I chose to write about not only look good right now but usually remain showy through much of the winter when they are set-off by a snowy background.

The ornamental crabapples with their glossy, brightly colored balls of yellow, orange and red are already looking awesome! Their branches are actually bending from the weight of thousands of shiny ornaments dangling for us to enjoy and birds to feast on later.

The most outstanding crabapple cultivars in the Garden this year are 'Chrishozam' (aka Christmas Holly, bright red fruit), 'Donald Wyman' (bright red), 'Professor Sprenger' (orange), 'Prairifire' (maroon), 'Hargozam' (aka Golden Raindrops, yellow) and the redbud crabapple (Malus x zumi var. calocarpa, bright red). All of these selections can be seen at Olbrich Gardens either adjacent to the new Donor's Arbor, at the entrance to the Rose Garden or entrance to the new Perennial Garden. More mature specimens can be seen in the extensive crabapple collection at the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens in the U.W.-Madison Arboretum.

Another group of small-scaled trees closely related to the crabapples are the hawthorns -- two in particular produce ultra-showy fruit. The first is cockspur hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli) which is loaded with brick red marble-sized fruit right now. They are spectacular in fall while the leaves are painted red and orange, but are especially showy in winter against a white background. Several wonderful mature specimens are growing just north of the Rose Garden at Olbrich. If the 3" long piercing thorns tend to intimidate you, try planting the cultivar 'Inermis' -- it's thornless.

The second hawthorn that is stunning at the moment is winter king green hawthorn (Crataegus viridis 'Winter King'). This cultivar is clothed in pea-sized reddish-orange fruits that almost seem to glow against its silvery gray bark. Its form is open and vase-shaped with age and bears relatively few thorns. Check it out in the Longenecker Gardens in a week or two when the foliage is colored purple to scarlet.

If you¹re looking for a large shrub or small tree with outstanding fruit, check out the European euonymus or spindletree (Euonymus europaeus) growing at the south end of Olbrich's Perennial Garden. The fruit is a marblish-sized 4-lobed rich pink capsule that splits to reveal an orange-coated seed. The fruit is especially striking when the leaves are in full orange to purple fall color. This beauty is a tough drought-resistant grower reaching about 15' tall.  It grows in full sun or part shade but will not tolerate poorly drained soils.

'Aldenhamensis' and 'Red Cap' are two outstanding cultivars selected for their abundant fruit production.  'Aldenhamensis' is an excellent choice for smaller gardens since it only grows to about 8' tall and has finer-textured leaves than the ordinary species.

Several roses produce showy fruit, called rose hips. My personal favorite is the rugosa rose (Rosa rugosa), also known as the beach tomato in Japan, where it grows natively along sandy sea shores. This beauty is not only a tough disease-resistant, fully hardy rose that blooms most of the season, but it also adds interest to the fall and winter landscape by producing large cherry-sized brilliant red hips that persist into winter. How¹s that for a sales pitch?

There are a number of good fruiting cultivars of rugosa rose, a few of my favorites are 'Dart's Dash', 'Dwarf Pavement' and 'Fru Dagmar Hastrup'. All of these can be seen in Olbrich's Rose Garden -- they're growing in the shrub rose beds (outer ring).

Two native shrub roses that put on a stunning hip display are the Virginia rose (Rosa virginiana) and the meadow rose (Rosa blanda). Both of these species also produce colorful reddish canes in winter to complement the glossy bright red hips. They are both hardy to zone 3 (-40º F) and are suckering shrubs, so give them a bit of space to ramble. You'll also have to put up with a fair amount of blackspot during the growing season, but you¹ll be amply rewarded with a bountiful crop of fruit to enjoy through most of the winter.

Another shrub that I saw for the first time at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and immediately fell in love with is the Korean barberry (Berberis koreana). This 6-8' tall vase-shaped shrub adorns itself in pendulous clusters of bright red pea-sized fruits which shine like beacons in the autumn sunlight. The fall color is a spectacular red turning to purple. This baby is a definite head-turner in the fall and winter garden.

This barberry tends to sucker and ramble a bit, so give it some room, stand back and enjoy. It is an especially good barrier plant (lots of impenetrable thorns ) in impoverished, dry soils in full sun or part shade.

Well, there you have it, a small sampling of the many plants that really put on their best show in the fall and winter garden. Get out to your local botanic gardens and arboreta, check out some new plants and head to your favorite garden center or nursery to purchase one or two.  Summer may be over, but a new season in the garden is just beginning. Olbrich Botanical Gardens is open from 8:00 to 5:00 every day during the fall.