You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
Native shrubs can greatly benefit your home landscape. One that you may not know is snowberry. It provides nice dark green foliage spring through fall and white flowers tinged with pink in the spring. The real show is the waxy-white berries that give this bush its name and provide food for many species of game birds from fall into winter.
Many gardeners love seeing wild birds almost as much as they enjoy flowers. We put up feeders of all kinds hoping to attract them to our little piece of Eden. Why stuff a feeder when your shrubs will provide food and beauty at the same time? The fruit, or berries, of the native snowberry, also known as ice apple, Symphoricarpus albus, is enjoyed by pheasant, grouse, quail and other birds as well. Of course, the shrub will also provide winter shelter for wildlife and come spring, a nesting area for smaller birds.
Unfortunately, snowberry is poisonous to human beings. It contains the alkaloid chelidonine, which causes gastrointestinal problems and dizziness if eaten. The Canadian government, in it's Poisonous Plants Information System, states that "the risk of severe poisoning does not appear great because of vomiting that occurs after ingesting."[1] The plant can also cause dermatitis. So this may not be a choice for those of you with small children.
According to the USDA[2], the native common snowberry is endangered in Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland (threatened), Massachusetts and presumed eradicated entirely in Ohio. As with all wild plants, you should be very careful to determine if that plant is protected before collecting any plant material.
Symphoricarpos is a member of the Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. This genus of plants is known collectively as snowberry. S. albus (alba), common snowberry, is native to the eastern half of the United States. A species native to the U.S. West is S. occidentalis, or wolfberry. There are many species and sub-species; mountain snowberry (S. oreophilus var. utahensis), creeping snowberry (S. mollis) and the pink-berried varieties (S. orbiculatus) which are known as coralberry. You may want to look online or at your local nursery for these as well as some named cultivars, even a few with variegated foliage. Heights range from 2 to 6 feet. Most are rated from zone 4 though 7 and some may be hardy to zone 2 or 3.
Coralberry (S. orbiculatus)
Another group of plants often referred to as snowberry are some of the Gaultherias from New Zealand; snowberry (Gaultheria hispida), mountain snowberry (G. depressa), scarlet snowberry (G. crassa), tall snowberry (G. rupestris) and northern snowberry (G. colensoi) among others. These plants are hardy from zone 7 to 9 and are unrelated to Symphoricarpos. You may know one of their cousins, a U.S. native, Gaultheria procumbens, or wintergreen. Photo at right is of Gaultheria hispida.
The western snowberry does have a bit of interesting history. Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, catalogued it in 1804 and even recognized it as a honeysuckle relative. Seeds were saved and sent to Philadelphia to a horticulturist named Bernard McMahon. In 1812, McMahon sent cuttings to Thomas Jefferson, who planted them in his garden. The cuttings thrived at Monticello and Jefferson wrote back to McMahon in October that they had "some of the most beautiful berries I have ever seen." The following year, Jefferson forwarded cuttings to a friend in Paris.[4] So snowberry bushes travelled half-way 'round the world on the basis of the pretty berries.
Western snowberry, S. occidentalis Common snowberry, S. alba
If you would like to grow snowberry in your home garden, ForestFarm has an excellent selection online. (I have no proprietary interest in this nursery, I just found a large variety of plants there and I have ordered from them before.) You can search PlantScout here at Dave's Garden or ask at your favorite local nursery for other sources.
[3]USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 3: 276.
I'm a 'dabble' gardener. Been gardening for over 40 years. I will plant anything that will grow for me and some things that won't, indoors or out. Outdoors I have theme gardens: roses, butterfly/hummingbird, heathers/dwarf conifers, a rock garden (in progress) and a new English-style cottage garden with an herb garden at it's 'heart'. Indoors I try to concentrate on orchids, African violets, anything that will flower or has lots of color and unusual houseplants. I try to stay organic and keep chemicals to a bare minimum. My non-gardening interests include quilting, counted cross-stitch and watercolor painting. I am a proud grandma and before my recent retirement, I was a clinical systems analyst (computer geek) for 24 years.
Posted by DonnieBrook (from N Hampshire/Florida
(United States)) on January 10, 2008 at 7:43 PM:
This article peaked my interest in snowberries, and I intend to consider this plant as an addition to our landscape in NH. The photos are beautiful and very helpful in illustrating the information in the article. I appreciate the inclusion of info concerning the poisonous nature to people. I also found it helpful to know what birds are attracted to the berries. Very good article! Thanks, Jan!
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 10, 2008 at 7:59 PM:
You are more than welcome, Louise, thanks. If you decide to get one, let me know how it does for you.
...
Posted by DonnieBrook (from N Hampshire/Florida
(United States)) on January 10, 2008 at 8:44 PM:
I will, Jan. I recall Victor mentioning these a few months ago, and I was interested then. Now, with your article, I will certainly want to give one a try. I love the look of those berries!!
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 10, 2008 at 10:05 PM:
Victor has a coralberry, too, which I think he likes better.
...
Posted by DonnieBrook (from N Hampshire/Florida
(United States)) on January 11, 2008 at 5:21 PM:
Yes, I recall him saying that, and I will look into it too. They are both so pretty! I mainly put in plants that feed birds.
...
Subject: Snowberry
Posted by gamekeeper (from New Boston, NH) on January 9, 2008 at 3:56 PM:
As a child I remember this shrub in our yard it never spread or was a problem.We kids used throw the berries at one another and squeeze as well.Shall try to find one for tradition and the birds.
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 9, 2008 at 6:29 PM:
sounds like fun! we had crabapples...they hurt LOL
...
Subject: Snowberry
Posted by meryl1cat (from Chippenham
(United Kingdom)) on January 8, 2008 at 4:45 AM:
I have this shrub as an invading visitor from next door. It root runs and is impossible to remove, it may be fine in a large space but an urban front garden is not the place.
In my parent's garden it was fine down in the wilderness at the end though
I garden in Southern UK.
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 8, 2008 at 1:58 PM:
Thanks for the comment. I had no idea it was invasive. There was nothing mentioned in any of my reading.
...
Subject: You answered a question I had!
Posted by dancingbear27 (from Elba, NY) on January 5, 2008 at 10:45 AM:
I have been driving past this abandoned site that used to have a home on it and have noticed this beautiful shrub with these gorgeous white berries. Needless to say, the temptation to go out and dig it up was there day after day but I have refrained! Now thanks to you I know what I can order from the nursery and behave myself. Great article. Thanks!
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 6, 2008 at 12:51 AM:
I think I'd still be tempted to dig it up LOL.
...
Posted by smapela21 (from Harrison, MI) on January 8, 2008 at 7:28 AM:
The home that I grew up in had about 3 1/2 acres of the most FUN property on which a child could grow up. Many fruit bearing trees, many wild flowers, berry bushes, you name it, we grew up around it! When I saw the picture of the Snowberry, it brought back so many fond memories! We kids ( 8 out of 10 left ) always joke around that MyMa always told us everything growing out in the wild part of the property was 'poisen'. Well, I guess in the case of the Snowberry, she was right! We had so many of these bushes on our property!! I can remember picking them and squashing them, but never eating them - heeding MyMa's warning! Thanks for the memory!
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 8, 2008 at 6:44 PM:
thanks for sharing your story. sounds like a wonderful place to be a kid!
...
Subject: Wonderful article!
Posted by pixie62560 (from South China, ME) on January 4, 2008 at 8:40 AM:
Jan,
That was a wonderful article and full of info! I am now off to do a little browsing at Forest Farm!! Thank you!
...
Posted by Sofonisba (from Putnam County, NY) on January 4, 2008 at 1:18 PM:
Jan, I just noticed you have an article here today! I'm off to pick up my mom and I'll read the article just as soon as I get back. It looks great! I just wanted to check in with you.
Harper
...
Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on January 4, 2008 at 1:22 PM:
Very interesting article. I've been looking for more plants like this. Thanks for sharing the information!
...
Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on January 4, 2008 at 2:02 PM:
Oh Jan, I want one and I wish we had space! Lovely article, and very informative, tying in with last month's quiz on 'wintergreen', too - was that deliberate? Thank you,,,,,, xx, Carrie
...
Posted by soapwort243 (from South Milwaukee, WI) on January 4, 2008 at 4:43 PM:
Hi Jan, Thanks for your great article. It was interesting. A couple years ago I planted the "Charming Fantasy"-TM Snowberry,(Symphoricarpos, Kolcharm) which I found on sale, the end of the season, at a nursery. The berries are beautiful. They are white, with a little pink tint. I wish I would have planted it right against the house, so I could enjoy it even more and I forgot to clip a stem-(they say that they last for 2 weeks in a floral arrangement.) It's tag says, fast growing, but mine has not grown very much, at least it is very healthy looking-( loaded with berries.)
...
Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on January 4, 2008 at 5:39 PM:
Lovely article; don't know how we've missed getting some of these - that'll change now! Thank you :)
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 4, 2008 at 6:12 PM:
Thank you all for the nice comments. I don't actually grow it myself, but if I can find room, I would like to.
...
Posted by victorgardener (from Lower Hudson Valley, NY) on January 4, 2008 at 9:53 PM:
Nice Jan. I grow both the regular and the coralberry. The white berries look like small marshmallows.
...
Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on January 4, 2008 at 10:53 PM:
Very nice informative article. Thanks.
...
Posted by AYankeeCat (from Fairfield County, CT) on January 5, 2008 at 6:19 PM:
What a well-written article! I loved the drawings in along with the great pictures.
...
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on January 6, 2008 at 12:53 AM:
Thanks, all.
...
Posted by grammyphoeb (from Upper Hudson Valley, NY) on January 7, 2008 at 6:13 AM:
Symphoricarpos is a member of the Honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae. This genus of plants is known collectively as snowberry. S. albus (alba), common snowberry, is n
Another group of plants often referred to as snowberry are some of the Gaultherias from New Zealand; 
The western snowberry does have a bit of interesting history. Meriwether Lewis, of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, catalogued it in 1804 and even recognized it as a honeysuckle relative. Seeds were saved and sent to Philadelphia to a horticulturist named Bernard McMahon. In 1812, McMahon sent cuttings to Thomas Jefferson, who planted them in his garden. The cuttings thrived at Monticello and Jefferson wrote back to McMahon in October that they had "some of the most beautiful berries I have ever seen." The following year, Jefferson forwarded cuttings to a friend in Paris.[4] So snowberry bushes travelled half-way 'round the world on the basis of the pretty berries.
