Dude, you fugly.

There is a beautyberry at the south end of the big bed in the floodplain. It is at the edge of the wilderness so to speak. The area between it and the head of the ditch is still mostly uncultivated, since until 4 years ago it was the outpost furthest from the house instead of the closest.

You can see the beautyberry (actually there are two, one behind the other) in this early April photo, left of the trellis.

The beautyberry was originally planted atop a compost pile (to smother the weeds), so although I cut it back hard every spring and it looks beautiful all summer, in autumn it takes on a mutant appearance. The branches bolt to over 6' in length and the overall effect is that of Medusa's hair.

This fall I often paused in front of it on the way into the garden and thought
from "Scarecrow", season 1

A couple of weeks ago a miracle happened: the beautyberry looked graceful and beautiful again. The result of a combination of trimming off some of the branches to cut down some of the (pesky) native bamboo underneath, the berries desiccating, and some of the berries being eaten by the resident Mockingbirds.

Lest you think it's still fugly, it used to look much more out of control. Eventually the soil will mellow and the beautyberry won't look so wild every fall anymore. The ones in leaner soil don't go through a fugly phase.

Thanks to those you answered the question I posted earlier.

(Supernatural seasons 1-5 is my newest obsession. I'm a hater of horror movies but I love stories with supernatural elements and complex storylines, and Dean's character (played by Jensen Ackles) makes me laugh. Castiel too. And Bobby...)