Winter Berries

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adelbertcat Klamath River, CA Dec 21, 2007

On the Bird Watching forum there is often reference to winter berries. Is this a specific plant or a family of Plants. I would like to plant some here for the birds. Any suggestion on what to plant that will have fruit in the winter. This is Zone 7

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doccat5 Fredericksburg, VA(Zone 7b) Dec 21, 2007

There is a winterberry plant, also beautyberry which is beautiful. Google for more specific info on those types of plants.

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Dec 21, 2007

There is a specific plant winterberry (this is a common name for several Ilex species, it's also known as holly http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=winterberry&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search). But there are also other plants that will have berries in the winter, so without asking them what they mean I wouldn't know if they're talking about Ilex or if they're just generically talking about plants that have berries in the winter.

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adelbertcat Klamath River, CA Dec 21, 2007

Thanks for the info.

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Dec 23, 2007

Hi Adelbertcat, as everyone has said, there is a specific shrub called winter-berry, but for general attraction to get a wider range of birds into your garden, then you will enjoy a wider and more enjoyable amount of watching the different birds if you plant more types of shrubs/trees etc. It is great fun watching the antics of the birds and there playful ways when feeding and if you planted some close to windows, then you get ever closer to nature. the ones most common to plant are
Holly, you need male and female to get these to berry.
Berberis, there are lots of different types
Hypericum.
Roses, find ones that grow huge hips
Viburnum, several types
Tsuga
Yew, beries and foliage are toxic if eaten by humans
Skimmia
Mahonia
Pyracantha,several with either red, orange or yellow berries and can be pruned to bush or grow against a wall
there are even more than this, however, if you don't cut down your flowering plants at the end of summer and wait till spring, then the birds will feed from the seed heads of most of those too. good luck. Weenel.

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DebinSC Georgetown, SC(Zone 8a) Dec 23, 2007

Adelbertcat:
I'd add Nandina (Heavenly bamboo) to the suggestions. Each winter I get little flocks of Cedar waxwings on them. Bluejays seem fond of them, too. Some say they are invasive, but I haven't had that problem. We also have Burford hollies that make nice berries for the birds.
Deb

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adelbertcat Klamath River, CA Dec 23, 2007

Thanks everyone for the info.

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