Bayberry
Morella pensylvanica
The coastal shrub of dunes and sandy scrub, with spice-scented foliage and waxy gray berries that feed migrating birds. Handles salt and poor soil.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The definitive aromatic native shrub for sandy, coastal, or salt-exposed sites. and the source of traditional bayberry candles.
Bayberry is the native shrub of Cape Cod dunes, barrier island edges, and sandy scrub, a plant so tied to the northeastern coastal landscape that the waxy, spice-scented berries have been harvested for candles for three hundred years. The foliage is aromatic when crushed, evergreen to semi-evergreen, and holds attractively through cold winters. In warm years, the leaves stay on until February; in colder years, they drop but the gray waxy berries persist on the stems and feed migrating birds. It fixes nitrogen, handles salt spray, and grows on infertile sandy soils where most shrubs would refuse to establish. Plant males and females together: you need both for berries, though one male pollinates several females. The colonies it forms on sandy slopes are dense and naturalistic, making excellent screening and erosion control in coastal and sandy sites.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown bayberry propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
Plant bayberry instead of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) on sandy slopes. Same job in the garden, without the spread.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 3–8 ft · 36–96 in wide
- USDA zones
- 2–6
- Family
- Myricaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America from Newfoundland to North Carolina, primarily coastal plain and sandy soils
Care notes for bayberry.
Full sun in dry to average, sandy or rocky, well-drained soil. Salt tolerant. Nitrogen fixer. no fertilization needed. Plant at least one male per three to four females for berry production. Tolerates coastal conditions. Slow to establish in its first two years; after that, it's largely self-sufficient. Can be sheared lightly in spring if a more compact form is desired.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside bayberry.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.