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Haunted by Nandina...

© Emily Levitt

I have mixed feelings about nandina.

On the one hand, it seems to grow stronger with neglect, and provides evergreen color with a grand winter display of berries in light to full sun. And almost nothing harmful will eat it.

On the other hand, it gets out of control in a hurry, and birds drop its' seeds in their excreta, encouraging it to show up in places I never wanted it.

I must also confess that the nandina so commom to yards in Atlanta also reminds me of trips to the cemetery. Trips in the winter in particular.

Nandina is inexpensive and showy. Therefore, it makes a dandy grave arrangement, a custom which I observed often as a child. My grandmother used to put nandina and mahonia in a large can covered in tin foil, and filled with rocks, so the wind wouldn't knock it over. Her favorite container for this home-grown floral decoration was usually a JFG Coffee can. The foil also covered that tacky label, which would mar the arranger's efforts, and might offend the deceased. (What if he/she hadn't cared for JFG?)

We'd troop out to the burying ground with our cans of nandina, then stand back in the cold and admire them. Bringing something green 'from home' in some way seemed to make the sad effort worthwhile for the adults. The kids in the group (myself included) were always bored unless the grown-ups would get to talking about Dear Dead Relatives and leave us alone, to chase each other around the headstones and act like the cemetery was our personal playground.

I can still hear my grandmother calling me...
"emma-LEE!! Where DO you think you are?"
She continuallly cautioned us not to be disrespectful of the deceased, while we cheerfully threw nandina berries at each other--and down the backs of unsuspecting aunts and uncles.

Once I asked my older cousin Jackie if he thought the dead people minded having us play on their graves. He looked at me as if I were the biggest dolt on earth.
"No. They're DEAD." he replied. Good point.

Having said all that, now I'll share a few things you might actually find USEFUL about growing nandina:

It isn't a true bamboo. It belongs to the barberry (berberidacae) family and is native to the Far East.

It can be propagated from root stock or seed. Or, at my house, I can dig it out of the woods, courtesy of our feathered friends.

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