HoneyHQ

Snowberry

Symphoricarpos albusCaprifoliaceaeShrub

A suckering shrub of North American woodland edge, planted across Europe as game cover and hedging, with clusters of white waxy berries that persist through winter. Its small pink bells are a genuinely good bumblebee plant with an unusually long flowering season, which makes it more useful than its reputation as a dull hedging shrub suggests.

Caution

The berries are mildly toxic and should not be eaten, though they are not dangerous in the quantities a child might sample.

Value to bees

Nectar
High
Pollen
Moderate
As a honey crop
Minor honey crop — a surplus only locally or occasionally
Which bees, and why
The small pink bells suit bees that can push in, so bumblebees are the principal visitors. Its long flowering makes it a useful bridge across the summer gap.

Small bell-shaped flowers requiring a bee to push in, which excludes the smallest and shortest-tongued species.

Worth knowing
A good nectar source with an exceptionally long season, which is its principal virtue.

Flowering

In flower
June to September (northern hemisphere)

An unusually long flowering season for a shrub, running right through the summer.

What it does to the honey

Contributes a mild floral sweetness with a faint green note.

Growing it

Conditions
Sun or shade on almost any soil, and exceptionally tolerant of neglect, drought and poor ground.
Size
1-2 m tall, spreading by suckers into thickets.
Native range
North America, from Alaska to California and east to Quebec. Naturalised widely across Europe.
Suits
Hedgerow, Large gardens, Small gardens
  • Suckers vigorously; give it room or expect to manage the spread.
  • One of the few genuinely useful bee shrubs that will flower in shade.
  • Cut back hard every few years to keep it flowering rather than merely thickening.

What it looks like

A low arching shrub with small oval leaves and inconspicuous pink bell-shaped flowers in the leaf axils, followed by conspicuous white berries the size of a marble that persist into winter.

Sources

  • Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
  • HoneyHQ editorial synthesis — HEKNO Ltd · HoneyHQ synthesis

How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.

Tools for planning planting

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