I describe Coffeeberry to clients as “The Prom Queen’s Best Friend.” While it may never win as the prettiest or most popular of plants, it is steadfast, reliable, consistent and durable. If you have a shady area, plant Coffeeberry. If you need a screen, plant Coffeeberry. It takes heavy soil quite well. It handles fast draining soil almost as well. It handles everything from shade to sun. It makes a versatile, wild hedge or a nice, large scale groundcover. For people who are afraid of plants go deciduous in the summer, Coffeeberry is the evergreen champ that forms a lush green background for the rest of your plants to contrast against.

In the Fall, as the berries ripen, scrub jays and other birds will come and pick the berries off of the plant, which is always fun and pleasing to see. Takes pruning like a champ; if you have a neighbor who likes to play with hedgers, plant this on their side since it can endure a spring time shearing and still look good. Many cultivars are available like the smaller form ‘Eve Case’ which I like to use as wild hedges or screens, or groundcovers like San Bruno Mound. Takes water pretty well in the summer.

The Coffeeberry you see above was found in the Arroyo Seco, in dry sand in the empty wash of the Hahamonga Watershed Park in full sun. The specimen had not received any rain for at least 8 months and looked good; clearly it was tapping into water from the stream there, but the stream level had fallen dozens of feet away from the plant, so I’m unsure how it looked so good in full sun.