Nandina domestica 'Leucocarpa'

Heavenly bamboo, Nandina domestica, has been a fixture of Southern gardens for generations, though the plant is no kin to bamboo at all, but a member of the barberry family from East Asia. The likeness is in the look: erect, sparingly branched canes carry large, glossy, fern-like compound leaves that flush red and bronze in cold weather, and the whole plant reads light and airy where a solid evergreen would feel heavy. 'Leucocarpa' is an uncommon selection that trades the usual scarlet berries for creamy pale-yellow ones, otherwise much like the familiar form.

For sheer dependability few shrubs rival heavenly bamboo. The plant takes sun or shade, wet or dry spells, and poor soil in stride, holds its leaves through most winters, and asks almost nothing in return, which is why the species has been passed along Southern gardens for well over a century. The pale berries of 'Leucocarpa' read cool and luminous against the foliage and play beautifully off the red-berried kinds, lighting a shaded corner through the cold months.

Loose sprays of small white flowers open in late spring above the foliage, followed by the long-lasting berries that are the plant's signature, here a soft creamy yellow rather than red. Two honest cautions belong with the praise: the berries carry cyanogenic compounds and can sicken birds that gorge on them, and in parts of the warm Southeast the common heavenly bamboo has naturalized into wild land. Site the shrub thoughtfully near natural areas, and clip spent berry clusters where self-sowing is a concern.

Use 'Leucocarpa' where the pale berries and airy foliage can be read at close range: a shaded courtyard, a woodland-edge border, a foundation planting, or a container, and pair with darker broadleaf evergreens that throw the yellow fruit forward. Give the plant part shade and decent, evenly moist soil for the best look, though sun and dry ground are tolerated. Cut a few of the oldest canes to the ground every couple of years to keep the clump full from the base, and deer will leave the foliage alone.