Botanical name: Myrica pennsylvanica

Botanical name: Myrica pennsylvanica
Attributes: A large, fast-growing shrub (to 9 feet) that is tardily deciduous or semi-evergreen. Female plants have wonderful chalky blue berries and tend to lose their leaves in winter; male plants are taller and more evergreen, turning purplish or leathery brown (after severe cold) in winter. The foliage is very aromatic and can be used as a substitute for bay leaf. The berries are used in candle making and are winter food for many birds.
Bloom color: Brown (a non-ornamental catkin)
Bloom time: Spring
Culture: Bayberries fix nitrogen to the soil so are tolerant of very poor soils. Plant bayberries anytime the soil is workable, though spring planting is better in cold zones (4 and northern zone 5). Bayberries require full sun or only part day shade. They are intolerant of continually wet soil and are heat- and drought-tolerant.
Landscaping tips: Hand select plants at nurseries in late fall, winter or spring so you can determine whether plants are female (with berries) or male (nearly evergreen). Male bayberries make superior screening and windbreak plants. Female plants are great for winter color and wildlife food. They are wonderful intermixed in a shrub border, especially where a path allows you access to brush against their aromatic foliage. Good companion plants are deciduous hollies, panicle hydrangeas, ninebarks, fragrant sumac, viburnums, dwarf conifers, evergreen hollies and junipers.
Cost: Available in 3-gallon containers for about $30; or by mail order for about $20 for a 1-gallon plant.
Source: Powell Gardens (www.powellgardens.org)