Red Berry Climbing Shrubs

Roses

• Several species in the Rosa genus grow as climbing shrubs and produce red fruits. These include the Carefree Beauty (R. BUCbi), which climbs to 6 feet high with a wide spread. Carefree Beauty blooms with clusters of deep pink, double blossoms and produces red-orange fruits. McCartney (R. McCartney) shrubs bloom with single white flowers throughout the growing season. They climb to 20 feet, have evergreen to semi-evergreen foliage and produce red-orange fruits. The climbing prairie rose (R. setigera) produces red fruits that attract birds and other wildlife. It climbs to 15 feet high and has 13-inch-long, pointy foliage. It produces small, fragrant pink flowers and grows across much of the United States.

North and South American Natives

• The coral bean (Erythrina herbacea), a Florida native, can climb up to 20 feet high but usually grows to about 8 feet tall. It has semi-deciduous, light-green foliage with prickly midribs and spiny stems. It blooms with 2-foot-long racemes of bright red flowers during spring, followed by pods filled with bright red fruits. Coral bean fruits are toxic. The Barbados gooseberry or gooseberry shrub (Pereskia aculeate) is thought to be native to the West Indies and the American tropics, and has naturalized in Hawaii, Florida and California. This climbing cactus shrub climbs up to 33 feet high and has spiny trunks and waxy, deciduous foliage. It blooms with pungent white, pink or yellow flowers, followed by spherical red, yellow or orange berries that can be made into jam. This drought-tolerant plant thrives with little irrigation.

Asian Natives

• The karanda (Carissa congesta) is native to India, Burma and northern Malaysia. This evergreen shrub climbs to 15 feet tall and often climbs trees. It has thorny branches and leathery leaves with shiny, dark tops and dull, pale undersides. It produces aromatic clusters of white flowers, followed by clusters of red-purple berries filled with red-to-pink pulp. Karanda is grown as an ornamental in Florida. Bush or tatarian honeysuckle (Lonicera tatarica) climbs to 10 feet tall. It blooms with fragrant pink flowers from late spring to early summer, followed by red berries that last from summer through autumn. This fast-growing deciduous shrub has smooth, blue-green foliage and self-seeds easily.

African Natives

• The Christmas bush (Alchornea cordifolia) grows in regions from Senegal to Tanzania and south to Angola. This climbing shrub is cultivated in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a medicinal species with a wide range of applications. An evergreen, the Christmas bush climbs up to 26 feet high and has toothed foliage. It produces clusters of bright red fruits. The diamar or karen shrub (Capparis tomentosa) climbs to almost 40 feet tall. This woody shrub is covered with 1-inch, hook-shaped thorns. It blooms with fragrant white-to-pink flowers followed by shiny red berries. Wooly caper bushes grow across dry regions of tropical Africa.