Another good alternate is Rosa Virginiana: pretty pink, very fragrant flowers in June, followed by rose hips that turn red in the fall and are not eaten by birds until late winter.
I have it planted in the photo with Cornus stolonifera, the winter red bare stems of this large running shrub complement the red rose hips of the virginiana rose in winter. This dogwood has smallish white flower heads and white berries that are also eaten immediately.
This message was edited Oct 6, 2011 9:55 PM
Thank you sempervirens! This is really great stuff. I like the honey suckle a lot sounds like what i've been looking for! I was interested in the dogwood also but couldn't find it on plantfiles. I have a red-twig dogwood but I have never seen berries or flowers. Out with the old and in with the new. I have a fairly small yard and these shrubs have to earn their keep!
virginiarose, You couldn't find it because I misspelled it in the first post. I've since corrected the spelling but it is also known as Cornus sericea, and commonly called red osier dogwood. It took off the 2nd year I had it in the ground, grew 10' branches and bloomed all summer, but sporadically. The white berries disappeared shortly after forming.
The other dogwoods I have are both 2 year old Pagoda dogwoods (Cornus alternifolia) also known as alternate leaf dogwoods. Neither has bloomed yet but they grew 3' taller.
Did you read Doug Tallamy's book "Bringing Nature Home"?
All native Dogwoods are rated very high on attracting and supporting the insects that support the native bird populations.
I have a small property also but I added those three even though they are all rather large, the red osier can be cut down every few years to promote the newer branches that are red but the "Pagodas" are small trees.
I really want to try elderberries if I can find a space along the fence line for them.
Anyone have elderberries?
This message was edited Oct 7, 2011 5:21 AM
I agree wholeheartedly with sempervirens' statements above, especially about the non-native Porcelain vine (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata). In KY, especially in our parklands and woodlands, it is approaching being the absolute worst plant we are dealing with.
Don't be fooled by not seeing additional plants in your own garden. Believe that the seeds are being transported elsewhere (especially unmanaged landscapes), where these pestiferous plants take hold and become the timebomb of invasive problems. Like our park woodlands.
Keep investing in all those great native species that support the native birds and insects/butterflies, and let the invasive non-natives be a memory of the past.
Thank you so much for the good advice. But what about my Ivory Halo, it is a red twig dogwood and I have never seen a bird near it, nor does it have berries. Should I replace it with something more functional. I'm starting to think it is just taking up space. I would rather have something like yours with berries.
I looked up several things named Cornus sericea, and none of them have berries, none of the ones on plantfiles.
I have heard good things about Elderberries. I inquired about one on another thread but she never got back to me. I think it is worth making room for. What do you think?
By the way I do have one plant that is very good for supporting insects, butterflies and birds. Its a 'cup plant' it is extreamly easy to grow and drought tolerant. The leaves fuse together at the stem and form a cup which holds rainwater for the birds and insects. It also has seeds, nectar and pollen. Please check it out!
Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
Ivory Halo ,Cornus Alba, is a non native Siberian dogwood.
Cornus servicea (stolonifera) is a similar native dogwood with red twigs in winter.
Both should get berries. I have to watch the shrub daily to catch the berries because when they form they are eaten almost immediately.
It prefers a moist soil and when happy blooms sparsely over the whole summer. All the blooms formed berries.
It is preferable to buy straight species when possible that come from your local area.
Try your local native plant society spring and fall native plant sales. The Audubon Society also hold spring and fall sales.
Online native plant nurseries from your local area are another source. Commercial nurseries rarely carry species, they usually sell the latest new and "improved" variety. Unfortunately improved for us to look at is frequently not as good for the birds.
Named cultivars are tricky, some are just naturally occurring crosses but others are really hybrids that have a non native addition.
I have cultivars of winterberry, Ilex verticillata because I couldn't find straight species until last year, and quite frankly I didn't think the larger
size would fit since I had already jam packed the area with grasses and perennials. I would choose differently if I had to do it again.
This is a great berrying shrub that berries when it is quite small if you have the correct male close by to coordinate bloom times.
I fear both my species shrubs are male so no berries on those but I have 4 female cultivars (Sprite) that berry well.(Jim Dandy is the male, you only need 1.)
The cup plant you mentioned is one I will add next year, I understand hummingbirds like to take a bath in the cups.
Excellent suggestion, thanks.
Does anyone here in the north grow Coralberry in shade? I'm looking for a fruiting bush for a location under a tree. I've seen some things that say they can tolerate shade, but I'm not sure they'd fruit very well. Was considering a serviceberry, but I don't think that would flower well in full shade.
The Ivory Halo also has red twigs but I have never seen any flowers or berries. It seems to be in a fairly moist place beside the Service Berries. The Service berries do not like moist soil I hear and have not grown as big as I would expect for three years. However they do have nice flowers and berries which the birds enjoy very much. They are all in full sun but I do and did forget to fertilize :( . Do you think that could be the problem.
Is Sprite a winter-berry? I can get one from a local nursery and they will give me a proper male. I am glad to hear they berry at a young age. Do they grow fairly fast?
Mrs_Ed, my service berries are in full sun and I don't know much about fruiting shade plants but I certainly will keep an eye out for shade tolerant bushes. I do have a Nandina Domestica in shade and it has berries, bright red ones but I don't know if the birds eat them or not. Also I believe there are certain Holley bushes that tolerate shade and the birds do eat those. I hope this helps :)
Thanks V-ro. I don't want to put a holly in the back yard because I have dogs and holly is one of the no-nos for them. They are past puppy-chewing stage but I wouldn't want to take a chance.
Wow, it's good to know that holly could be toxic to domesticated pets such as dogs. Thanks Mrs. Ed for the info.
There are a ton of plants toxic to dogs. My dogs aren't plant eaters, but in their younger years they WERE branch chewers.
Helpful info. thanks all. Here is another small tree/shrub that not only good for birds, wildlife, but pleasant to our eyes. Eunamus 'Burning Bush'. Although, this is not "burning" (reddened) yet, but it begun to show its sparkling color for the season. Note the attractive red berries.
Lily, burning bush is considered an invasive noxious weed in 21 states from New England and along the east coast as far south as Georgia and west to Illinois.
In many states it is no longer legal to sell them.
I know there is supposed to be a new genetically modified burning bush but in the past all so called sterile plants have proved capable of reproducing with existing species.
Blueberries, Vaccinium corymbosum, are good substitutes both for berries and fall color. You also could consider black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa or Fragrant Sumac, Rhus aromatica, as native substitute shrubs.
Awwww, every time I turned around. Those invasive weeds are all around. sniff sniff~
Great information sempervirens! I am still researching shrubs and small trees for attracting birds. I am still interested in Sprite and Jim Dandy. Might add another blueberry bush, I had three small ones I got on sale last fall but my Husband mowed two of them down. :(
Okay, here is an interesting thing that I just discovered; Not only Robins favor the flowering dogwoods. This year, I'm fortunate to observe many a species come to enjoy the tree's berries to include Eastern Blue Birds, a variety of Warblers, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers also seen picking on the berries. The YBSS especially will hang upside down for these berries treats. Other species appear to perch on the branches to wait for insects. So the trees appear to be mostly busy this time of year.
Great picture!!!
Hi all, I just started watching this thread. Thank you sempervivem for staying on top of the invasive plants. I don't know if web sites for invasive plants have been posted so here is a suggestion if needed. http://www.invasive.org/weedcd/
Also search 'your state, invasive plants' and you will get many web sites.
It's amazing to me that many of these plants are still being sold. And who knows how many of the currently popular ornamentals will be added to the list.
We are planting our yard into natives, starting 2 years ago. My husband retired and has been watching birds-now can identify many he agreed to stop the chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We have seen a great response from the birds. It's fun to watch the birds respond to these young trees and shrubs. They love the native crabapple, plum, serviceberries, spicebushes, winterberries, elderberries and ninebark. These plants are still babies and the birds love them as do the deer and groundhogs. Fences aren't too pretty but we haven't found anything effective against the groundhogs. (Glad they only need 18" fences.)
Any help planting in clay soil for our feathered friends would be great.
Hi everybody, Just got through re-reading this thread and there is so many great pictures and great information. I actually took notes and printed out a list. This thread is packed with information!
There is another great shrub I have on my wish list and it is called winterberry. Does anyone have one. I took this picture at a local nursery and was told this is a very slow grower, but worth the wait. This one is 'Winter Red' but I would like a couple of 'Sprites' anyone have one, I hear the berries persist into winter and are loved by a lot of birds.
Welcome back! And glad to hear that Winterberry Holly has found its way into your heart.
Take a look at PlantFiles listings for this species and its many selections.
I am growing a great number of these (see photos in the entries in PlantFiles, and comments therein), and have for decades (though many are recent additions as well). These are really NOT slow growers, unless they are in droughty situations. Give them a wet spot - or at least regular moisture - and you can have a foot-plus in growth per year, more if you fertilize at all.
The most important thing is to understand that male flowers and female flowers are on separate plants, and you need both for pollination to occur and have fruit set on the female plants. 'Winter Red' is about the most highly rated female selection with berries able to persist until spring, and will become a relatively large plant if untouched. 'Red Sprite' is more compact - but still able to reach 6 feet tall. It has very nice fruit set, but I find that birds will strip this one earlier than most other selections.
Read up on all that is available, and continue to ask more questions...
This message was edited Mar 30, 2018 5:05 PM
Thanks so much!
Spring is on it way, and thought it would be good time to bump this up again, for those interestied in making their yard more bird friendly.
Good idea Burn!
After watching the birds strip the holly berries in about 2 days, I think I'll be adding more holly!
I am always interested in making my yard more bird friendly. I added several Winterberries in the fall, plus a pollinator for my Viburnum. I will add more if I can find room. :)
Hackberry is popular with all types of songbirds
including mockingbirds, orioles, & cardinals.
I have had good luck attracting birds by planting things that attract bugs.
Agree with Hackberry, and I would add wild native plum Prunus Americana - it is a little buggy without getting over-whelmed.
It isn't a tree or a shrub - but the birds like my grapes - too much, in fact!!
Great Idea! I have added a lot of nectar plants and the birds are loving the yard. The Birch trees have gotten huge and it is everyones favorite hang-out, a whole 20° cooler under there! I will check into the Hackberry and plum.
Bees love this viburnum, birds use them to hide. I get a beautiful flush of blooms every Spring but never any berries to come about. Wouldn't it be great if the berries will come to fruition?
Do you have a pollinator?
if that's Fragrant Snowball (viburnum carcephalum), I don't think I've ever seen berries on them either.
I think Mrs Ed is right on spot. Apparently the hybrid is sterile. virginiarose, I've two other viburnums, one of which is the regular white blooming 'snow ball' in which it seldomly bloomed for me since it's hidden in too much shade. Another is a double-file viburnum, which was blooming the same time as the Vib. carcephalum. As long as I've them, (nearly 10 years now), the doublefile vibirnum occassionally yield some attractive oblong medium size berries, but not very profusely. Their berries first started out green, turned red, then ultimately will turn black before they fall off, or eaten by birds and wild life. I can't have enough viburnum in the garden. Only the garden doesn't have enough sunny sites to give them the best growing condition they deserve.
That is what I have. The Shasta Doublefile and I found out that, Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum is the pollinator. Just planted my last year so It is very small still. The Shasta has gotten big in the third year but still no flowers or berries! I am patiently waiting and I know when it does start it will be spectacular! Can't wait and the following article helped me a lot.
http://www.finegardening.com/plantguide/viburnum-plicatum-f-tomentosum-doublefile-viburnum.aspx
I just wanted to give a thumb's up for Serviceberry for the birds. Ours is a small thing at this time, but I am hoping it will fill out with some pruning I did.
Just when the berries were ripe, the Bluebirds were on it! I was a tad too slow for pictures. Then the Robins, but the Robins were so large, the branches could not sustain their weight.
Ours is in a mostly shaded area and so far, so good. It replaced a lilac that was in the spot.
I have a Nannyberry Viburnum lentigo and two Serviceberries. Both are good for birds and attractive in landscape year round. My serviceberries are generic natives and too small to do much either - I have thought about upgrading them to named varieties, but I don't want to wait for them to regrow.
The birds have got all the berries off the aforementioned and the non-native Nanking Cherry, I have never tasted one yet. Nanking Cherry blooms a bit too early in my yard and tends to get nipped by frost, but the bush itself is very hardy.
you know, it's so hard when you have a spot for only one Tree/bush. I've been going around and around. Pagoda Dogwood vs. Serviceberry. Hope we can knock down the back garage to make room for more! ha.
**Bump**
Nice timing, nuts...
you know, it's so hard when you have a spot for only one Tree/bush. I've been going around and around. Pagoda Dogwood vs. Serviceberry. Hope we can knock down the back garage to make room for more! ha.
Thank you N.A.N. for the thread, as well as the timing of it. I'm so ready to get back out door and enjoy the garden. Just barely got through sprucing up the backyard. Birds are abundant, but thus far no nesting candidate.... Mrs. Ed, have you planted new trees for your lovely garden?
1. Japanese Mapple in dormant state
2. Weeping Willow with fresh cut pruning.
3. Daphne odora, one of the earliest blooming flower even before crocus popping up through the ground. ::)
This message was edited Feb 13, 2016 10:02 AM
We have a winterberry that has been loaded with berries all fall and winter. Evidently the birds don't care for this one!
