Show Off Your Berries

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Those berries are really pretty, but you can hardly see them. Red berries look great against a green background – that's why evergreen holly trees look so stunning this time of year. But for deciduous plants that get loads of berries, like our native winterberry holly – Ilex verticillata – once the leaves drop, the berries can get lost in the landscape.

That's why it's often smart to position deciduous plants that have pretty fruits with something behind them – like a row of evergreens – giving them a background that helps their colors pop out. If there's no room to plant, consider putting some white lattice or fencing behind them instead. Because, in the garden, like in home decorating, it's not only the colors you choose that count, but also the combinations and contrasts that make all the difference.

So if you have berries you're squinting to see, spend some time this winter thinking about what you could plant or put behind them in the spring to help show them off a lot better next winter.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio