Winterberry shrubs (Ilex verticillata) hold fruit well into winter, sustaining berry lovers like Northern Mockingbirds that will often guard a shrub as their private fruit stand.
“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”
—ALDO LEOPOLD in Foreword, A Sand County Almanac (1887–1948)
Unlike a tree with its single, sometimes massive trunk, a shrub is usually multi-stemmed, hence the term “shrubby.” What’s the difference, then, between a bush and a shrub? Some sources try to distinguish between the two by suggesting bushes are found in the wild and have stems and leaves closer to the ground. Shrubs, on the other hand, have thicker foliage and are maintained and pruned. According to a Utah State University Extension bulletin, however, “A shrub by any other name is a bush.” Most sources ultimately confess that “bush” is just another name for “shrub.”
The difference between an understory tree and a shrub, however, sometimes blurs. An understory tree, like redbud (Cercis canadensis) for instance, may be multi-trunked but grows sometimes 30 feet tall. By habit, we call it a tree, and field guides typically name it a tree, not a shrub. It prefers and thrives under the partial shade of another, larger tree, thus redbud becomes commonly referred to as an “understory” tree. Some shrubs like bayberry (Myrica spp.), however, stay relatively short—maybe only upwards of 10 feet—but appear in field guides as a tree. Even the experts don’t agree.
This whole business is confounded by the fact that a shrub can be pruned into a treelike form.
So here’s my point: This isn’t a scientific reference, so forgive me for my perhaps somewhat lax terminology. I’ll be using the term “shrub” to refer to all woody plants that are relatively short and bush-like, and that grow no higher than, say, to the eaves of a one-story house. I’ll use the term “understory tree” to refer to relatively short trees, some perhaps multi-stemmed, but especially those that thrive best in the shade of high-canopy trees.
In short, for our purposes: If you can walk under it, it’s a tree. If you have to walk around it, it’s a shrub (or bush).
Nitpicking aside then, let’s get down to the business of Step 2, choosing shrubs that serve your plan and meet your birdscaping goals.
Step 2: Choose at least four shrubs—one for each season.
Keep in mind that “shrub” also includes tall understory “shrubby” trees. And since vines are merely woody shrubs that twine, they’re possible choices, too. As well, we’ll make mention of brambles, yet another woody shrub—not suitable everywhere but worthy of high praise from some ground-loving birds.
The tree or trees you chose in the last chapter may well be the biggest players in the landscape, rather like captains of the team, but generally shrubs make up the team. They become the foundation for the overall landscaping and function well in many landscaping capacities. And since there are literally hundreds of kinds of shrubs for your planting pleasure, even keeping to the natives, the range of choices can boggle the mind.
There are three kinds of shrubs:
1. Deciduous shrubs, of course, lose their leaves in winter. They tend to offer showy blossoms and work well as feature plantings.
2. Broadleaf evergreen shrubs, those that stay green year-round but often have oval-shaped leaves, also work well as feature plantings. Typically adorned with showy blossoms, usually in spring, they maintain year-round interest, provide shelter for birds, and depending on where you plant them, add privacy to your home or yard.
3. Needled evergreen shrubs look more like typical evergreen trees. Likewise, they maintain year-round interest, provide winter shelter for birds, and can add privacy to your home or yard.
Fragrant white mid-spring smooth witherod viburnum blossoms (Viburnum nudum) strike a sharp contrast with the plant’s shiny green leaves, attracting pollinators and later producing berries that ripen from pink to deep pink to blue to purplish black.
Because there are so many native shrubs from which to choose, we recommend making choices based on what you can plant to best serve up a year-round buffet. Of course, no single shrub serves as a four-season buffet. Take this approach:
1. Think about which specimens bloom in early spring. Those provide buds and blossoms for food and also attract bugs for protein.
2. Next pick a plant that produces summer blooms. They attract insects for nesting birds to feed their babies. Some are also sufficiently dense to serve as secure and nicely camouflaged nest sites.
3. Come fall, birds need the rich nutrition found in the lipids of berries. The fats fuel them in migration and prepare them for winter. So think berries. Lots of berries.
Seasonal Choices for Shrubs and Tall Understory Plants
| SPRING FOOD | SUMMER FOOD, NEST SITES AND MATERIALS | AUTUMN FOOD | WINTER FOOD AND SHELTER |
| Alder | Bayberry | Beautyberry, American | Bayberry |
| Bayberry | Beautyberry, American | Buttonbush | Beautyberry, American |
| Chokeberry | Blueberries | Chokeberry, Black | Buttonbush |
| Dogwood, Alternate-leaf | Buttonbush | Chokeberry, Red | Chokeberry, Red |
| Dogwood, Gray | Devil’s Walking Stick | Dogwood, Alternate-leaf | Dogwood, Gray |
| Dogwood, Red Osier | Dogwood, Gray | Dogwood, Gray | Hawthorn, Green |
| Dogwood, Roughleaf | Dogwood, Roughleaf | Dogwood, Red Osier | Hawthorn, Washington |
| Dogwood, Silky | Dogwood, Silky | Dogwood, Roughleaf | Inkberry |
| Fringetree | Elderberry, Am. Black | Dogwood, Silky | Ninebark |
| Hawthorn, Green | Hawthorn, Green | Fringetree | Possum Haw (Ilex) |
| Hawthorn, Washington | Hawthorn, Washington | Hawthorn, Green | Sumac, Fragrant |
| Inkberry | New Jersey Tea | Hawthorn, Washington | Sumac, Smooth |
| Ninebark | Possum Haw (Ilex) | Inkberry | Sumac, Dwarf |
| Redbud | Serviceberry, Allegheny | Ninebark | Viburnum, Nannyberry |
| Serviceberry, Allegheny | Serviceberry, Canadian | Spicebush | Winterberry |
| Serviceberry, Canadian | Viburnum, Blackhaw | Sumac, Dwarf | Witch Hazel, American |
| Spicebush | Viburnum, Mapleleaf | Sumac, Fragrant | |
| Sumac, Fragrant | Willows | Sumac, Smooth | |
| Sweetspire | Viburnum, Arrowwood | ||
| Viburnum, Arrowwood | Viburnum, Mapleleaf | ||
| Viburnum, Blackhaw | Viburnum, Nannyberry | ||
| Viburnum, Mapleleaf | Viburnum, Sm. Witherod | ||
| Viburnum, Nannyberry | |||
| Viburnum, Sm. Witherod | |||
| Willows | |||
| Witch Hazel, Ozark |
4. Finally, winter demands both food and shelter. Late-winter berries will help birds survive the elements, and evergreen shrubs create life-saving shelter from bitter-cold winds and storms.
Many shrubs serve well, but all serve for only a limited time. The aim here, of course, is to provide for birds in all four seasons—bugs, buds, and shelter in spring; bugs, nest sites, and nest materials in summer; bugs, fruit, nutritious berries, and shelter in autumn; and seeds, berries, and shelter in winter.
In order to serve up a year-round buffet, consider at least one shrub from each column in the table below. (Detailed descriptions of each shrub make up the remainder of this chapter.) Choose more if space and budget permit. A pots-and-patio garden will benefit from several potted shrubs, perhaps situated as a grouping. Depending on which plant(s) you choose for container gardening, you may want to think of them as “garden crops,” accepting that they won’t grow forever in limiting pots. Still, given 10 years or more, you’ll offer birds a dramatic addition to an otherwise barren landscape. Some is always better than none.
With the seasonal guide above in mind, you’ll find in the following pages all the necessary details about the shrubs and tall understory plants.
Most alders like wet feet, even boggy conditions, especially in northerly cool climates. Obviously, then, they’re not happy in my southwestern Indiana area—not that I haven’t tried to make them happy. It just didn’t work. So, for those of you farther north with a wet patch somewhere in your yard or garden, give this one a try. Birds feed heavily on alders, especially in spring when the catkins hang heavy. As a shrub, it’s big, but it can be pruned and, if you’re not one to try for naturalized colonies, it can also be reined in by removing suckers. Given space, though, I’d go for it!
Pine Siskins forage heavily on early-spring speckled alder (Alnus incana ssp. rugosa), a shrub of wet places in northern climes.
Depending on where you live, you’ll look at either northern bayberry, sometimes called candleberry, or southern bayberry, sometimes called wax myrtle. Both offer attractive foliage, a glossy, waxy broadleaf semievergreen (depending on how far north you live) that makes lovely landscaping year-round. An added advantage is the pleasing bay scent from crushed leaves and berries. In fact, by boiling the berries, American colonists made clean-burning scented candles.
A delightful Blue-headed Vireo forages through American beautyberry bush (Callicarpa americana) in search of both berries and bugs.
Because bayberry berries have a somewhat waxy skin, they have limited appeal to many birds. But that being said, Yellow-rumped Warblers tolerate the consistency so well that bayberry is their primary sustenance during winter months when they congregate in southern states. Many ornithologists believe that it is, in fact, the native natural abundance of southern bayberry that allows Yellow-rumped Warblers to overwinter in the southern states. We’re certainly unlikely to see many other warbler species in the US in January!
American beautyberry, sometimes called American beauty bush, has become a fall migrant magnet in my own yard. In June, tiny blossoms wash the gracefully arching branches in pinkish lavender, a color just slightly more pink than the berries to come. What a lovely color, both! The blossoms’ scent, however, is remarkably delightful, given the tiny size of the flowers. What they lack in size, though, they make up for in mass. Mini bees find the blossoms as delightful as I do, so if wind direction causes me to miss the fragrance, the hum of bees will bring me around. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds take interest in the blossoms, too, but I’m never sure whether the hummers explore the branches for the nectar or the bugs. I suspect both.
The real joy of having beautyberry, however, arrives on wings in August and September. The lovely lavender berries garner intense interest from many migrants, especially Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and all of the thrush family. Swainson’s Thrushes slip in regularly to partake, while Hermit Thrushes stay shyly in the back. As crazy as it sounds, however, Nashville and Tennessee Warblers spend more time in the beautyberry than anything else. The berries are just the right tiny size for their consumption, and the bugs that find the occasional droplets of sap especially tantalizing add a great opportunity for a protein boost among migrants. Since one of our bubbling rocks adjoins the beautyberry, it’s like one-stop shopping for migrants during September.
By late October and early November, most of the beautyberry berries—and all the migrants—are gone. But Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, and American Robins forage until the final berry is gone.
Beautyberry plants also let birdscapers make the most of our investments. The shrubs can be propagated via cuttings. Buy one, get the rest free!
Most folks plant blueberries for the sheer anticipation of blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, blueberry pie, blueberries on ice cream, blueberries on cereal, and just plain blueberries, tossed in the mouth like popcorn kernels. I’ll take ’em any way I can get ’em!
While blueberries have male and female flowers on the same plant, you do need two different plants to set fruit. Assuming you have the paired plants and have selected varieties suitable for your region, a likely abundance of blueberries will feed families—both human and avian. Most varieties produce significant crops of the luscious fruits—if the weather cooperates. While many blueberry varieties produce fruits too large for birds to swallow whole, Eastern Bluebirds, Blue Jays, American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, most of the woodpeckers, and some thrushes will be happy to partake of the berries in whatever form they can—whole, crushed, or pecked apart, directly from the bush or from the ground.
Buttonbush, sometimes also called common buttonbush, button-willow, and honey-bells, has been long neglected for gardening purposes because folks have the wrong impression about this charming shrub’s growing conditions. In the wild, we typically find it growing in or near water. But I’m here to tell you mine do just fine, thank you, in the middle of my well-drained garden.
The standard shrub is somewhat more loosely open than is the compact (I have both), but both bloom extremely well and both can be pruned—even severely if you wish. Above all, there’s no other shrub—almost no other plant—in my garden that butterflies love more. The buttonbush seems all aflutter as butterflies—most spectacularly the tiger swallowtail—nectar there. The unusual ball-shaped flowers are worth the price of purchase, and when the blooms are spent, the ball shape becomes the seed head that serves birds well all winter.
Buttonbush blossoms (Cephalanthus occidentalis) create a buffet for a nectaring tiger swallowtail, a bumblebee, and at least two ailanthus webworm moths, creating, in turn, a buffet for birds.
Knowing that buttonbush blooms on new growth, early this spring I pruned the compact cultivar but left low growth so that branches touched the ground. The reward? Song Sparrows nested on the ground, under the security of the low growth. In winter, White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Mourning Doves, and Brown Thrashers forage in the leaf litter below, snatching up the tiny seeds.
Both varieties of chokeberry, red and black, spread by suckers and can thus naturalize, growing slowly into a nice mass of shrubs birds love. Of course, if you prefer a single shrub, simply use a spade to cut roots that would ultimately form new plants. Depending on your preference, however, you will likely choose one over the other. Red chokeberry is more aggressive, more likely to spread quickly, more often seen in wetland-type habitats, and best kept to super-sized yards or acreage. Black chokeberry, on the other hand, will naturalize, but it is much better behaved and considerably less aggressive—better for mid-sized or smaller yards.
Virtually every berry-eating bird loves the glossy red or black berries of the chokeberry shrub. While we humans find the berries quite bitter—and thus “choke” on them, accounting for the common name—birds seem not to mind. While chokeberry berries ripen in fall, the red chokeberry cultivar ‘Brilliantissima’ tends to hold berries into spring. Thus, it better serves over-wintering birds dependent upon winter berries for survival, like Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Mockingbirds, Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings, and woodpeckers, including Northern Flickers. The black chokeberry cultivar ‘Iroquois Beauty’ tends to be a good ornamental, better behaved and more compact than the standard.
Because of the similarity in names, let’s note that chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is more tree-like, while chokeberry (Aronia spp.) is a shrub rarely reaching more than 6 feet tall. Both species are attractive to birds and both are native in large parts of the eastern US, but space requirements differ.
Everyone is likely familiar with dogwood. The forest-edge flowering dogwood tree, flush with lovely early-spring white flowers—or maybe a pink cultivar—blooms before anything green steals the show. Dogwood shrubs, however, play a different role in the landscape. For one thing—the obvious thing—they are shrubs, meaning they’re multi-stemmed and can, left alone, form thickets. In general, they rarely reach more than 12 to 15 feet tall. The dogwood name, then, takes on a different meaning in shrub form.
While the leaves of dogwood shrubs bear a similarity to the leaves of the flowering dogwood tree, other characteristics make the shrub and tree seem surely unrelated—but related they are.
Gray dogwood and roughleaf dogwood are sometimes difficult to distinguish. Both produce clusters of tiny white blooms in May, and both produce pea-sized white berries that sit in a cluster atop little red stems—and therein lies the joy for bird-watchers. Those white berries, ripening just as fall migrants move south, prove highly attractive to many birds, including warblers. What a dramatic sight, those confusing fall warblers flitting across the shrubs, hanging upside down, stretching for the fattest berry, foraging at the speed of a gulp, hanging out just long enough for me to make the difficult ID. One fall, during a single morning, we watched American Redstarts and Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, and Blackpoll Warblers—more than 150 individuals, all moving through an old immense thicket of rough-leaf dogwood. Not many species, but oh, what numbers!
Silky dogwood, sometimes called swamp dogwood because of its tolerance for wet feet, blooms somewhat later than the others, a flat-topped cluster of tiny white flowers that form white berries. When ripe, they turn porcelain blue.
Red osier dogwood, the name sometimes written as redosier and sometimes called red twig dogwood, also blossoms in clusters of tiny white flowers that form clusters of white berries, some of which may turn pale blue when ripe. Most who add red osier to their landscape do so because of the bright red twigs that almost glow against winter’s gray—or snow white—landscape. Again, however, fall migrants devour the berries, the birds’ loveliness rewarding you for your berry-producing plantings.
Fall migrating birds, including this basic-plumaged Cape May Warbler, survive another leg of their southward journey with the aid of nutritious roughleaf dogwood shrub berries (Cornus drummondii).
American black elderberry, or common elderberry, has been treasured for centuries for its tasty berries. Jams and jellies, pies and muffins, and, probably most famous of all, wine—especially the homemade variety—all claim fame with black elderberry berries. Grandpa knew the secret to good elderberry wine! Beware, however, that black elderberry seeds, stems, leaves, and roots are all toxic to humans. The plant parts contain cyanide-inducing glycosides, so if you ate enough, cyanide could build up to sufficient levels to make you sick. I can’t imagine why you’d eat seeds, stems, leaves, or roots, but just so you know. The raw berries, however, also contain minimal toxicity—unless they’re fully ripe. Boiling, baking, or drying eliminates the toxicity, though, and the result is a delightfully sweet treat. And again, just so you know, birds don’t care!
Nowadays, in fact, I adore black elderberry for its almost dinner-plate-sized heads of tiny waxy-white flowers that turn into magnificent clusters of luscious purple-black berries hanging from scarlet red stems. Bees and other insects flock to the sweet blossoms and hummingbirds check them out, and then, in July when berries ripen, whoever gets there first dines well. Most birds don’t wait until the berries are soft and fully ripe—I guess they are just too tempting to chance the wait. Perhaps the birds fear something else (like me!) will beat them to the fruity treats. Northern Cardinals, Northern Mockingbirds, Cedar and Bohemian Waxwings, even smaller birds like House Finches, Tufted Titmice, and Carolina Chickadees show savvy interest in ripening berries in our yard.
Some years ago, a volunteer black elderberry sprang up in our yard, the seed carried here no doubt from the neighbor’s yard by a tummy-filled, satisfied bird. But the seed sprouted in a spot too poor to thrive, too shady to be truly happy. Having seen the plant’s minimal success there, however, I purchased another one from a native fruit producer and planted it in prime elderberry real estate. It has thrived. And sprouted babies. And the babies are now sprouting babies, as the oldest plants die off. In short, the black elderberry bush doesn’t live a long time, but the roots send up new shoots as the older plants die off in three or four years. A single plant is a good investment—for both you and the birds!
Dinner-plate-sized elderberry blossom clusters (Sambucus canadensis) brighten any part of the yard.
Within a month, the elderberry blossoms are replaced with luscious berry clusters, magnets for birds and their fledglings.
Most of us know and love holly trees, recognized for their holiday-time decorative red berries and sharply pointed, shiny evergreen leaves. But don’t confuse the native American holly tree with the group of holly shrubs listed here as best-choice shrub selections. We’ve narrowed a long list of possibilities to three, including inkberry, possum haw (not to be confused with the Viburnum species by the same name), and winterberry. All three standards have quite suitable cultivars that, depending on your location, may serve you and your birds well.
As with virtually all Ilex species, in order for your holly shrubs to produce berries, you’ll need both male and female plants. Typically, one male plant will pollinate about five females, especially if planted centrally among them. Your local nursery staff can verify your choices of male versus female and whether they will make happy couples.
So let’s look at the three holly shrubs we’ve chosen.
Inkberry, also known as Appalachian tea (so named because Native Americans made tea from the plant’s leaves), evergreen winterberry, and gallberry, is a clump-forming broadleaf evergreen. Unlike the tree member of this Ilex family, its berries are black (thus its common name) that hang in clusters. Several cultivars are less prone to suckering, so if you prefer a compact plant rather than one that will naturalize, consider one of the cultivars such as ‘Shamrock’ (a more shapely form than the standard), ‘Densa’ (more dense than the standard and only 3 to 4 feet tall at maturity), or ‘Compacta’ (a more compact plant than the standard). Honey from inkberry is highly valued, so the plant’s inconspicuous flowers are obvious attractants to bees and other pollinators. Birds come for both the bugs and the berries.
Possum haw, sometimes written as possumhaw, goes by a number of common names, including possumhaw holly, deciduous holly, meadow holly, swamp holly, prairie holly, welk holly, bearberry, and deciduous yaupon. Because of its height, possum haw is sometimes treelike. Setting it apart from inkberry in yet another way, it’s deciduous, not evergreen. In winter, bright red berries are scattered along leafless gray stems, and, of course, that’s the primary attraction to birds. But like other hollies, both trees and shrubs, the inconspicuous flowers attract bees and other insects—which, of course, also attract birds. Think of this shrub as an understory plant, preferring at least partial shade from its larger neighbors.
Winterberry originated in North America’s wetlands, but its amazing adaptability allows us to enjoy it in a multitude of habitats. In my yard, four females and a male live happily together in the partial shade of two flowering dogwood trees (Cornus florida) and a redbud tree (Cercis canadensis). When the winterberries lose their leaves, the fabulous and abundant red berries along the length of the stem are exposed, both for my viewing pleasure and for the birds’ dining pleasure. By late January, though, the berries are gone, thanks to repeat visits by Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Mockingbirds, migrating thrushes, and a flock of hungry American Robins. Occasionally a Northern Cardinal sneaks a few morsels or a group of Cedar Waxwings drops by. Larger shrubs with more-abundant berries may hold until the violets bloom.
Of the three holly shrubs, winterberry is my personal favorite, and a number of cultivars offer choices that may work well in your yard. ‘Red Sprite’ is a small, nicely compact cultivar staying at about 3 to 5 feet tall. ‘Winter Red’ is likely the most popular overall (see photo at the opening of this chapter). If you’re planting for birds, however, you’ll probably skip the cultivar called ‘Winter Gold’. Birds don’t recognize the yellow berries as food. I watched during one severe winter when birds were starving, and not once did they approach ‘Winter Gold’. In spring, the rotted berries fell to the ground. Plant it for yourself, if you wish, but know it won’t serve the birds.
While ‘Winter Gold’ winterberry shrubs (Ilex verticillata) look lovely against winter’s drab landscape, birds seem unable to recognize yellow berries as food; so choose a yellow-berried variety for yourself if you wish, but choose a red-berried one for the birds.
New Jersey tea, a plant named for a popular tea made from its leaves during the Revolutionary War period, is quite similar to redroot and small-leaved redroot, although their native statuses differ. Small-leaved redroot is confined to southern sandy pine and oak woods. All three species, however, are quite small—max 3 feet tall—making them perfect for virtually every space. In addition, all have extremely deep roots that allow them to recover from some of the most inhospitable conditions, including fire. Butterflies love the conspicuous flowers, and because it’s a larval host for several small butterflies, birds find the plant attractive. The plant’s seeds provide a certain amount of winter sustenance, but in terms of birdscaping, here’s the most significant feature of all: Hummingbirds visit regularly for the tiny insects that pollinate the flowers. Can’t not love a hummer’s favorite protein source!
Only recently did I discover common ninebark. While I have several of the standard species, I also have a couple of the cultivars, one of which boasts wine-colored foliage. The odd name comes from the fact that the bark peels (properly speaking, it exfoliates) from mature stems in strips, somewhat like that of a paper birch. In winter, then, the various shades of reddish to light brown along the peeling stem create a nice contrast to the otherwise monotone winter world. For birds, however, it’s about blossoms and bugs in spring and drooping clusters of reddish berries in fall and winter. Because I made a mistake when I planted the first shrub, situating it in too small a space, I’ve learned that ninebark can be pruned significantly in winter and will still burst with growth the following spring.
‘Summer Wine’ common ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) flowers beautifully in late spring before providing berries for birds in midsummer.
A longtime standard in native plant gardens, spicebush is the larval host for the namesake spicebush swallowtail. In the laurel family, spicebush is one of the first shrubs to bloom in spring, even before leaves appear, and one of the first to produce berries in summer. But you’ll need male and female plants if you want those bright red berries. The male flowers are showier—such as they are—but female plants bear the fruit. In short, spicebush is great for enhancing bird habitat because of its early blossoms and fruit, but butterflies and bees will thank you as well.
The last berries still viable at winter’s end are typically some form of sumac, perhaps Rhus glabra, often life-savers for non-seed-eating birds like American Robins (shown here) and Eastern Bluebirds.
Sumacs add a wide range of interest to a native birdscape. Their twisted form, serrated leaves, brilliant fall foliage, and fuzzy red berries combine to create year-round visual treat.
Fragrant sumac is so named because when crushed, its leaves and stems smell heavenly. This sumac, however, is really closer to being a tall and relatively dense ground cover (mine stands about 18 inches) rather than a true shrub. It spreads slowly outward by root from its cluster center and blooms early, and the female plants form fuzzy red berries that attract wildlife in general and butterflies and birds in particular.
Smooth sumac, very similar to staghorn sumac, often stands at winter’s end as birds’ last resort. While sumac berries lack the rich lipids of earlier-producing berries, Eastern Bluebirds in particular turn to it in hopes of survival. Because sumac lacks the richest nutrients, birds must eat more of it to satisfy their needs. It’s a bittersweet experience, however, to watch bluebirds, robins, and mockingbirds picking at sumac heads in late March, knowing they are nearly starved but also knowing there’s at least some sustenance at hand.
One winter some years ago, snows piled high late in the season and drew unusual birds to our backyard feeder area: bluebirds, robins, mockingbirds—birds that rarely eat seed and seem flummoxed by suet cakes, preferring bugs and berries. At winter’s end, however, their favored foods were gone, and they faced hard times. Hard times call for hard choices, and these birds were attracted to other birds’ feeding activity. Unfortunately, they found nothing to satisfy their hunger, so I feared for their survival. Remembering that sumac shrubs grew several miles from our house, I made my way there, cut several seed heads, brought them home, and tied one to a shepherd’s hook, one to a platform feeder, and one to a fence post. Within minutes, all three species had visited the sumac seed heads, seeming—or so I hoped—to find some minimal nutrition. I trust they survived. Months later, when planting time was right, I added sumacs in the yard.
Dwarf sumac, also called winged sumac, flame-leaf sumac, and shining sumac, offers a viable alternative to suit smaller spaces. Despite the name “dwarf,” the plant can, in optimum growing conditions, reach as high as 15 feet tall, but pruning can keep it in check if that’s your choice. As a result, it works well in containers and above-ground planters. As a shrub, it wants to be multi-stemmed, but again, it can be trained to grow single-trunked. While we usually think of sumac in terms of its long-holding seed heads, the dwarf sumac is especially good for its dense growth, thus providing superb shelter for birds.
Three popular cultivars of Virginia sweetspire work similarly well, providing an abundance of showy flowers in early summer and then, planted in masses, a shrubby ground cover for the summer, followed by its main attraction of long-lasting, showy foliage in fall. Check out ‘Henry’s Garnet’, ‘Little Henry’, and ‘Merlot’. Virginia sweetspire’s scientific genus name, Itea, meaning “willow” in Greek, reflects the plant’s leaf and flower similarities to those of certain willows. In fact, the plant is also called Virginia willow. While the flowers—along with the insects and tiny bees they attract—and stunning fall foliage are the main attributes noted by landscapers, it’s the low, dense cover for ground-loving birds that weighed heavily in my decision to plant a swath along a strip that tends to carry heavy runoff. Its root-suckering habit makes for excellent erosion control, and it’s a perfect native for covering large banks, beds, and borders.
Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica ‘Henry’s Garnet’) invites pollinators of all sizes to visit its sweet nectar.
Viburnums include more than 150 species of deciduous, evergreen, and semievergreen woody plants, many of which are native to North America. Some landscape designers claim there’s a viburnum for every need, one to fill every trouble spot in any garden or yard! Well, that’s quite a claim, but I can certainly vouch for a number of species. Most of the 150 tout an abundance of lovely spring blossoms, usually white, either flat-top clusters or snowball shape, followed by rich blue, black, red, or yellow berries popular with a wide variety of birds. Foliage on some turns brilliant red in fall. And it’s worth noting, because of their size, that viburnums can all be pruned. Since pruning should be completed immediately after flowering, however, it will reduce fall berry production; pruning later would reduce next spring’s blossoms. All in all, viburnums rank way up there among top choices for native plantings, both for birds and for dynamite landscaping.
It was with some hand-wringing then that I accepted the limiting factor of space and picked only three best-choice viburnums here (plus two in the “treelike shrub” category later in the chapter). My limitations, however, should not limit your consideration of other native viburnums or their cultivars. Check the USDA Plant Database online to determine their respective status in your region.
Let’s look at the three:
Deciduous arrowwood viburnum gets its name from the Native Americans’ supposed use of its straight stems for arrow shafts. While that attribution may or may not be accurate, the shrub certainly does grow straight and strong, perhaps too hefty for some locations. Good for backgrounds and hedges, its white spring blossoms on flat-topped clusters up to 4 inches in diameter turn into luscious blue or blue-black berries by late summer. Birds make quick work of the feast.
The smallest of the three best-choice deciduous viburnums listed here, mapleleaf viburnum, also called mapleleaf arrowwood, may fit well in your landscape. Its typical viburnum-type blossoms attract bugs and butterflies to nectar, and its handsome blue berries attract birds in fall. In this species, it’s the relative compact size that matters.
Deciduous smooth witherod, sometimes called possumhaw, has somewhat glossier leaves than the other three viburnums we’ve selected here and is typically the most compact. The cluster of them in my yard adds a dark, rich green to an otherwise bare brick wall below high windows. Bugs, butterflies, and birds—the three Big Bs—take their seasonal pleasure among them. One probably needless warning: Don’t let the name “possumhaw” confuse you with the Ilex species of the same name.
We’ve already included willows in the tree section, and now we’re adding them to the shrub section. Whether they’re in tree form or shrub form, however, willows are among the top species supporting bugs—they’re big-time butter-fly hosts—and that makes them big-time targets for birds feeding on bugs. Willow shrubs are clump-forming, but the silky willow stays to 6 feet, while the meadow willow, also called slender willow, can double that height. Plant what you have room for. I’ve just added two to my own yard, knowing full well the butterflies will find them first.
Willows in all forms (Salix spp.) attract spring migrants like this White-eyed Vireo foraging for caterpillars among the branches.
One final pair of selections remain in this list: American witch hazel, sometimes called winterbloom, and its spring counterpart, Ozark witch hazel.
There’s good reason for American witch hazel to carry the moniker winterbloom: It blooms later than any other flowering shrub, often through December. Its other common name, snapping hazel, comes from the seed, the pod of which pops open with such a snap—or force—that the seed can rocket 30 feet from the plant. While American witch hazel can reach roof high, it can be pruned to suit your preference. Given its end-of-the-year blossoms, it’s not only a boon for birds but a breath of spring-to-come even before winter encases the yard.
A Northern Mockingbird, bug in beak, has found successful foraging amid Ozark witch hazel’s (Hamamelis vernalis) very early blossoms.
Ozark witch hazel, on the other hand, blooms early in the spring, before anything else—before dogwood, before violets, often before the calendar says winter is done. In fact, it often blooms while the previous season’s fruit lingers, thus accounting for its genus name Hamamelis, meaning “together with fruit.” Some sources suggest that the “witch” part of its name comes from folks using the twigs for divining rods. My grandpa used peach branches to water-witch, but nobody calls them “witch peaches.” You be the judge. Aside from the charming folklore, Ozark witch hazel is a low-growing shrub worth considering. Given the very early blossoms when nectar is at a premium, the shrub attracts a wide variety of bugs and butterflies and, as a result, birds.
Here, then, in alphabetical order by common name, are my thirty native shrub selections, including a few cultivar choices. On the scale of poor-good-better-best, all rank as “better” or “best” choices for attracting birds to your yard, while cultivars rank as “good.”
About the
Lists
The shrubs and understory trees listed here are, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Plant Database (online at www.plants.usda.gov), native to states as indicated. Note that while a plant may be native in your state, it may not be native to every part of your state and certainly not to every eco-region. In the cases of cultivars, any native designation references the standard of the cultivar. As always, consider soil texture, moisture, slope, and sunlight required. Your planting zone and eco-region combined will determine suitable growing conditions in your locale. To find your planting zone, check online at http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/.
The plant lists in this reference are not, nor are they intended to be, all-inclusive. Rather, plants listed here are chosen because:
1. They are attractive to birds for multiple reasons, meeting birds’ needs for food and shelter and, in the case of shrubs, are almost always attractive for nesting.
2. They are easily grown, well-behaved, and suitable for landscaping in various settings, as noted.
In addition, always plant according to size of mature plant relative to space available. Estimated height and spread sizes shown here are for mature shrubs and understory trees. Generally, however, shrubs can be readily pruned to maintain a preferred height and spread.
Thirty Shrubs for Super-Sized, Mid-Sized, and Mini Yards
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | BENEFIT(S) I = INSECT HOST N = NECTAR B = BERRIES S = SUMMER F = FALL W = WINTER WS = WINTER SHELTER | COMMENTS | NATIVE, PLANTING ZONES |
| Alder, speckled | Alnus incana ssp. rugosa | I seed |
15–20' tall, 15–25' spread; full shade to part sun; medium to wet, tolerates mucky soil; good to naturalize and in rain gardens; native to boggy grounds, cool climate; attracts birds | North of Ohio River Zones 2–6 (does not thrive south of zone 6) |
| Bayberry | Morella spp. synonymous with Myrica spp. | Bw (esp. for Yellow-rumped Warblers) WS |
Broadleaf evergreen in south; semievergreen in north | As specified below |
| Bayberry, northern | M. pensyivanica | I N Bw WS |
Semievergreen in southern part of range; 5–10' tall, 5–10' spread; dense branching; can be pruned; need male and female to produce berries (on female); full sun to part shade; best in groups or massed | East Coast and OH, PA, and NY, but not SC, GA, and FL Zones 3–7 |
| Bayberry, southern synonymous with wax myrtle | Morelia cerifera synonymous with Myrica cerifera | I N Bf, w WS |
Broadleaf evergreen, semievergreen in northern habitats; 10–15' tall, 8–10' spread; grows in wide range of soils; full sun to part shade; fast-growing; tolerates salt spray; male and female required, waxy blue-gray fruits on female; versatile shrub; will colonize if allowed | Coastal states from NJ south plus WV and AR Zones 7–10 |
| Beautyberry, American synonymous with American beauty bush | Callicarpa americana | N (pollinators) Bf, w |
3–6' tall, 3–6' spread; insignificant flowers; clusters of lavender berries, esp. for fall migrants; fruits best in full sun; loose shrub, best in masses | Ohio River south Zones 6–10 |
| Blueberries | Vaccinium spp. | I Bs |
Numerous Vaccinium species produce delicious fruits for humans and birds | Depending on species |
| Buttonbush | Cephalanthus occidentalis | N (pollinators) seed | 5–12' tall, 4–8' spread; showy fragrant flowers esp. attractive to bees, butterflies; full sun to part shade; wet to medium soils; good in rain garden | Eastern US Zones 5–9 |
| Chokeberry | Aronia spp. | Bf, w | Named for tart berries; easily grown and will readily sucker, given the opportunity | As specified below |
| Black chokeberry | A. melanocarpa, esp. ‘iroquois Beauty’; other cultivars suitable | Bf | 3–6' tall; 3–6' spread; will sucker; showy May flowers, showy very tart fall fruit, attractive fall foliage; good for hedge, rain garden, or to naturalize; prune suckers to prevent naturalizing; cultivar ‘Iroquois Beauty’ more compact | Eastern US except FL and cultivars Zones 3–8 |
| Red chokeberry | A. arbutifolia, esp. ‘Brilliantissima’ | N Bf, w (‘Brilliantissima’ holds berries until spring) |
6–8' tall, 3–4' spread; can form colonies; glossy red fruit in clusters; red fall foliage; multiseason ornamental interest; plant in masses; best used only in super-sized yards | Eastern US except OH, IN, IL, MI, WI, MN, IA, and MO and cultivars Zones 4–9 |
| Dogwoods | Cornus spp. | Varies by species | Dogwood trees differ from shrubs in that shrubs are multi-stemmed | As specified below |
| Gray dogwood | C. racemosa | N (esp. for butterflies) Bf, w (esp. beneficial for fall migrating birds) |
10–15' tall, 10–15' spread; full sun to part shade; showy flowers leaving white berries on red stems; grows in poor soils; best if allowed to form thickets, so works well as border, screen, in rain gardens; magnet for fall migrants | Eastern US except FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, and TN Zones 4–8 |
| Red osier dogwood synonymous with red twig dogwood | C. sericea, formerly C. stolonifera, esp. ‘Allemans’ | N (esp. for butterflies) Bf | 6–9' tall, 8–12' spread; best in fertile moist soils; red stems; suckers, trim with spade if thickets undesired; full to part shade; clusters of small, insignificant white blossoms, white fall berries; good as hedge, in rain gardens; cultivar ‘Allemans’ rarely taller than 5', more compact | North of NC and TN except MO and cultivars Zones 3–8 |
| Roughleaf dogwood | C. drummondii | N Bs, f (esp. beneficial for fall migrating birds) |
6–15' tall, 6–15' spread; full sun to part shade; easily grown, tolerates poor soils; forms thickets, so good as informal hedge, property line screen, border, naturalized areas; white berries are bird magnets | Eastern US except MN, FL, SC, NC, WV, MD, and DE and east of NY Zones 5–8 |
| silky dogwood synonymous with swamp dogwood | C. amomum | N Bs, f |
6–12' tall, 6–12' spread; likes moist, acidic soil in part shade; branches will root if touch ground; can form thickets if center alone; good in naturalized areas, stream banks, erosion control; dark blue berries | Eastern US except LA, AR, MN, and WI Zones 5–8 |
| Elderberry, American black synonymous with common elderberry | Sambucus canadensis | N Bs |
5–12' tall, 5–12' spread; can form thickets; full sun to part shade, well-drained soils; flat, rounded blossom; purple/blue fruit ripens Aug-Sept, preferred by bluebirds; good as shrub border, background, screen, in rain gardens | Eastern US Zones 3–9 |
| Holly shrubs | Ilex spp. | Flowers insignificant; best noted for berry production | Mostly deciduous as shrubs; compare with broadleaf evergreen holly trees | As specified on the next page |
| Inkberry ‘Shamrock’ (also other cultivars) | I. glabra ‘shamrock’ | N Bf, w |
Broadleaf evergreen, 5–8' tall, 5–8' spread; easily grown, slow growing; full sun to part shade; can spread by root suckers to colonize; cultivars have generally better form; excellent as border, foundation, low hedge; berries somewhat toxic to humans, esp. children | All eastern and southern coastal states and cultivars Zones 4–9 |
| Possum haw synonymous with deciduous holly | I. decidua | N Bw |
Deciduous, 7–15' tall, 5–12' spread; full sun to part shade, medium soil; small red berries in winter along leafless gray twigs; male and female required; good as specimen, group, or hedge; good winter color | Southeast to Ohio River but not WV; also IN, IL, and MO Zones 5–9 |
| Winterberry (several good cultivars) | I. verticillata | Bw | Deciduous, 3–12' tall; 3–12' spread; need 1 male to 4 females; flowers insignificant, showy berries in fall and winter; original wetlands species; prefers acidic to medium soils, tolerates clay and wet soils and pollution; can be used as hedge | Eastern US and cultivars Zones 3–9 |
| New Jersey tea similar to smaller redroot and small-leaved redroot | Ceanothus americanus C. herbaceus C. microphyllus | I N |
3–4' tall, 3–5' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates drought, rocky soil; easily grown; use as shrub border, ground cover; attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds | Eastern US Zones 4–8 |
| Ninebark, common (also cultivars) | Physocarpus opulifolius | N Bf, w |
5–8' tall; 6–8' spread; full sun to part shade; good as hedge, screen, erosion control; small flowers in clusters, followed by umbrella-like clusters of reddish berries that turn brown, persist through winter; grows in harsh conditions | Eastern US except MS and LA and cultivars Zones 2–8 |
| Spicebush | Lindera benzoin | I Bs |
6–10' tall, 6–12' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates clay soils; easy to grow; requires male and female plants; blooms very early, bright red drupes mature in fall | Eastern US except Wi and MN Zones 4–9 |
| Sumacs | Rhus spp. | B | Best for massing | As specified below |
| Fragrant sumac | R. aromatica | I N Bs, f, w |
2–4' tall, 6–10' spread; easily grown in wide range of soils but needs good drainage; male and female plants; male catkins form late summer, bloom in spring; female blossoms form hairy red berry clusters in late summer persisting into winter; good for stabilizing banks, showy ground cover, informal hedge; spreads by root suckers | Eastern US Zones 3–9 |
| Smooth sumac very similar to staghorn sumac | R. glabra R. typhina | Bf, w (persist until spring) | 9–15' tall, 9–15' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates wide variety of soils but needs well-drained; forms thickets; best massed to halt erosion or cover areas of poor soil; too weedy and aggressive for informal hedges; male and female plants; female forms pyramidal fruiting clusters that last well into winter as last resort for berry-eating birds; bright fall foliage | Entire US Zones 3–9 |
| Dwarf sumac synonymous with winged sumac, flameleaf sumac, and shining sumac | R. copallina | Bf, w (persist until spring) | 7–15' tall, 10–20' spread; tolerates wide variety of soil but needs well-drained in full sun or part shade; best when allowed to colonize, form masses for erosion control, or cover poor soil areas; female plants form pyramidal berries, last resort for winter survival for birds; bright fall foliage | Eastern US except MN Zones 4–9 |
| Sweetspire, Virginia, ‘Henry’s Garnet’ (see dwarf cultivar in table below) | Itea virginica ‘Henry’s garnet’ | I N |
3–4' tall, 4–6' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates heavy shade, clay and wet soils; good as specimen, group, or mass; will naturalize; showy fragrant flowers in late spring | Cultivar Zones 5–9 |
| Viburnums | Viburnum spp. | Berries especially attractive | All adapt to full sun or part shade; prefer well-drained soils; most have lovely fall foliage; easily grown; will sucker to naturalize but removing suckers controls growth | As specified below |
| Arrowwood viburnum | V. dentatum | I Bf |
6–10' tall, 6–10' spread; prune as needed; showy white flowers early summer, blue-black drupes late summer and fall; very winter hardy | Eastern US except VT, NH, MI, WI, and MN Zones 2–8 |
| Mapleleaf viburnum | V. acerifolium | I N Bs, f |
3–6' tall, 2–4' spread; tiny white flowers in showy clusters, pea-sized bluish-black fruits late summer; prune immediately after flowering | Eastern US except MO, IA, and MN Zones 3–8 |
| Smooth witherod synonymous with possumhaw | V. nudum | I N Bf |
5–12' tall, 5–12' spread; showy, fragrant white flowers early spring, berries ripen to purplish black late summer; attractive purplish fall foliage | Eastern US except MO, IA, and MN Zones 5–9 |
| Willows | Salix spp. | Butterfly host plant | Most prefer wet soils | As specified below |
| Meadow willow synonymous with slender willow | S. petiolaris | I (butterfly host) | 5–15' tall; multi-stemmed, forms clumps; wet, moist soils; esp. beneficial to pollinators | North of Ohio River to coast, plus MN and IA Zones 2–8 |
| Silky willow | S. sericea | I (butterfly host) | 6' tall; forms clumps; native to marshes, ditches, low woods | Eastern US except LA, MS, and FL Zones 2–8 |
| Witch hazel | Hamamelis spp. | As noted below | As described below | As specified below |
| American witch hazel synonymous with winterbloom | H. virginiana | N I |
15–20' tall, 15–20' spread; easily grown, prefers acidic moist soils but tolerates heavy clay; remove suckers unless want to naturalize; blooms Oct-Dec, so usually last native flowering plant; forms fruits through winter; good as hedge, shrub border | Eastern US Zones 3–8 |
| Ozark witch hazel | H. vernalis | N I |
6–10' tall, 8–15' spread; easily grown in average, medium moisture, well-drained soils; full sun to part shade; remove root suckers if colonizing not desired; first to bloom (Jan–Apr) | Southern, central US Zones 4–8 |
We’ve noted that some of the shrubs above could work in mini yards, especially if pruned. Of course, shrubs we’re suggesting as great selections for mini yards will work as well in larger yards. In fact, planting masses in super-sized yards can prove to be a real show-stopper, for both birds and humans. The point here is that compact shrubs can have good uses in any-sized yard. Think rock gardens, accents near water features, sidewalk borders, front-row plants in a cottage garden, feature plants in accent gardens, year-round interest in seasonal perennial gardens—the list is limited only by your imagination.
So here goes with suggestions for seven compact shrubs—almost all evergreen. Take a look, no matter what size your space.
Compact Shrubs for Mini Yards and Pots and Patio Gardens
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | BENEFIT(S) I = INSECT HOST N = NECTAR B = BERRIES S = SUMMER F = FALL W = WINTER WS = WINTER SHELTER | COMMENTS | NATIVE, PLANTING ZONES |
| American arborvitaes synonymous with northern white cedar | Thuja spp. | Bw WS |
Evergreen; supply significant winter shelter for birds | As noted below |
| ‘Hetz Midget’ | T. occidentalis ‘Hetz Midget’ | Bw WS |
Evergreen, 4–5' tall, 3–4' spread; slow-growing globed form; can be pruned, but no pruning needed to maintain form; tolerates clay soil; good for rock gardens, foundations | Cultivar Zones 2–7 |
| ‘Rheingold’ | T. occidentalis ‘Rheingold’ | Bw WS |
Evergreen, 3–5' tall, 3–5' spread; globed, slow-growing; unusual bright gold to copper-orange foliage year-round | Cultivar Zones 2–7 |
| Hemlock ‘Abbott’s Pygmy’ (many other small cultivars available) | Tsuga canadensis ‘Abbott’s Pygmy’ | WS | Evergreen; tiny, matures at 18" tall, 1–1.5' spread; part to full shade; good in rock gardens, containers | Cultivar Zones 4–7 |
| Junipers/red cedars | Juniperus virginiana | Bw WS |
Evergreen; many cultivars; berries (actually tiny cones) favorite winter food for many birds | Eastern US Zones 2–9 |
| ‘Blue Mountain’ | J. virginiana ‘Blue Mountain’ | Bw WS |
Evergreen, 3–4' tall, 5–8' spread; blue-green foliage softer than most junipers; females produce berries; good foundation plant, border, or on slopes | Cultivar Zones 2–9 |
| ‘Gray Owl’ | J. virginiana ‘Gray Owl’ | Bw WS |
Evergreen, 3–4' tall, 6–8' spread; silver-gray foliage attractive year-round; female produce berries | Cultivar, eastern US Zones 2–9 |
| ‘Silver Spreader’ | J. virginiana ‘Silver Spreader’ | Bw WS |
Evergreen, 2–3' tall, 3–6' spread; sun, well-drained soil; deer resistant | Cultivar, eastern US Zones 3–9 |
| Sweetspire, Virginia, ‘Little Henry’ | Itea virginica ‘Little Henry’ | I N |
Dwarf deciduous, 1.5–2' tall, 2–2.5' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates heavy shade, clay and wet soils; good as specimen, group, mass; will naturalize; superior flowers and brighter autumn leaves than standard | Cultivar Zones 5–9 |
While we included American arborvitae (northern white cedar) among recommended trees in Chapter 5, these two small evergreen cultivars readily qualify as shrubs. ‘Hetz Midget’ and ‘Rheingold’ both grow slow and stay low, perfect for planting in tiny yards and rock gardens. Year-round, most any evergreen supplies highly desirable shelter for birds, and tiny yards often lack much shelter of any kind. So here’s the opportunity to welcome birds year-round—but especially in winter—with a go-to safe place.
Likewise, the hemlock evergreen cultivar shrub ‘Abbott’s Pygmy’, along with numerous other hemlock cultivar shrubs, provides good winter shelter. Since these small shrubs do well in containers, they’re perfect even for pots-and-patio gardens.
Next, a trio of juniper cultivars takes the spotlight: ‘Blue Mountain’ juniper, ‘Gray Owl’ juniper, and ‘Silver Spreader’ juniper, all smaller than 3 feet tall. Some, however, do spread, so they’re not really suitable for containers. Even in my super-sized yard, I’ve added a bed of Gray Owls that will, when they finally grow together, provide safety for roosting, nesting, and wintering birds. Simultaneously, the berry lovers, especially Cedar Waxwings, will enjoy the juniper’s fall-through-winter berry-like cones. Because these are all Juniperus virginiana cultivars, not hybrids, they maintain the same characteristics as the standard red cedar. They’re just smaller. Can’t beat native red cedar for bird habitat!
Finally, if you prefer a deciduous tiny shrub, consider the mini Virginia sweetspire ‘Little Henry’. Not more than 2 feet tall, it looks exactly like the bigger ‘Henry’s Garnet’—just smaller. What’s not to love?
Finally, in this section, 10 of our recommendations fall into the hard-to-categorize realm. Are they tall shrubs? Are they short trees? Well, maybe both, depending on whom you ask. But in this reference, they’re birdscape plants!
We’ve already talked about a number of dogwood shrubs, but a 25-footer with a 30-foot spread seems more expansive than a shrub. Whatever its category, the alternate-leaf dogwood, sometimes called pagoda dogwood, brings typical dogwood attributes to the yard: berries that birds love. Indeed, the flowers also attract butterflies and other insects. And like other dogwood species, either trees or shrubs, alternate-leaf dogwoods prefer some shade, especially from hot afternoon sun. Still, it’s adaptable enough to function well as a specimen shrub near patios and in bird gardens. Compare this larger species with the dogwood shrubs recommended earlier in this chapter.
Devil’s walking stick gets its name from its abundant thorns, so this is not the tree to plant next to a sidewalk or pool where you’ll be brushing past. Given some space, put this tall shrub/tree along the wood’s edge, out of the way, but where you can watch bird activity from your favorite window. You’ll be rewarded! Despite its thorns, devil’s walking stick serves as a bird magnet. Everything loves its flowers, especially bugs and butterflies. And you know what that means!
Fringetree can reach 20 feet tall, so the shrub is definitely treelike. And after all, “tree” is part of its name. An early bloomer, like dogwood, the flowers produce a spectacular show. Berries follow. You’ll never be disappointed by this beauty.
Hawthorns produce fine crops of berries mid-fall holding into winter, so birds find winter food supplies among the branches. Handsome along streets in full sun, hawthorns can be pruned. The somewhat thorny Washington hawthorn and the largely thornless variety, green hawthorn ‘Winter King’, both work well in a wide variety of growing conditions. Unfortunately, our hawthorn succumbed to rust (most likely airborne from nearby cedar and apple trees) that, we’re told, would render any thoughts of replanting misguided. I miss that tree—but probably not as much as the birds do.
Washington hawthorn blossoms (Crataegus phaenopyrum) turn into small red berries that hold well into winter, a feature highly attractive to many birds.
Redbuds tend to come up voluntarily where we live, so we have numerous individuals. Because they bloom so early, we watched a number of bird species eat the buds, especially Cedar Waxwings, American Robins, Northern Cardinals, and even Tufted Titmice and Carolina Chickadees. The blossom is highly nutritious. Smart, aren’t they, to find superfood among the flowers? What a treasure, then, these redbuds!
Whether you’re in the region hosting Allegheny smooth serviceberry, sometimes considered the same species as downy or shadblow serviceberry, or more likely to find Canadian serviceberry in your area, you’ll love the first blossoms of spring these understory trees bring. My dad used to come to supper grinning ear to ear to announce winter’s end—the “sarviss berry,” as he called it, was abloom, and his beehives were humming! We always felt a bit celebratory at the news. Little did I understand then, as a kid, the importance of that very early nectar to starving pollinators or the vital nutrition in the berries that ripen within a month or so, serving up birds the rich lipids they need to prepare for nesting. Now my yard touts three.
A House Wren, his throat puffed up in closed-beak song, defends his territory perched amid redbud blossoms (Cercis canadensis).
Finally, we offer two more Viburnum species: blackhaw, named for its similarities to the unrelated hawthorn, and nannyberry, so named apparently because nanny goats, more than billy goats, like to feed on the ripe berries. Like the shorter Viburnum shrubs, the deciduous blackhaw and nannyberry blossom in late spring with flat-topped 4-inch-diameter blossoms followed by clusters of blue-black berries that birds adore. The primary difference between these viburnums and those in the shrub choices described earlier in the chapter is height.
Take another look at the four-season table on pages 109–10. Confirm your choices for four shrubs, more if you can, and add them to your yard map. Locate them, sketch in their mature sizes, and label them. Double check that soil and light conditions are appropriate for your chosen shrubs in your chosen locations.
Treelike Shrubs and Understory Trees
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | BENEFIT(S) I = INSECT HOST N = NECTAR B = BERRIES S = SUMMER F = FALL W = WINTER WS = WINTER SHELTER | COMMENTS | NATIVE, PLANTING ZONES |
| Alternate-leaf dogwood synonymous with pagoda dogwood | Cornus alternifolia | N Bf |
15–25' tall, 20–32' spread; “pagoda” suggests shape; full sun, part shade, well-drained acidic soils; showy flowers attract butterflies; fruits bluish-black drupes on red stems; good as specimen shrub, near patios, in lawns and bird gardens | Eastern US except LA Zones 3–7 |
| Devil’s walking stick | Aralia spinosa | N (pollinators) Bf |
10–20' tall, 6–10' spread; umbrella shaped; thorny, so plant away from traffic areas; best naturalized; showy late flowers (July-Aug); tolerates drought, urban pollutants | Eastern US except VT, NH, MI, WI, and MN Zones 4–9 |
| Fringetree | Chionanthus virginicus | N Bs, f |
12–20' tall, 12–20' spread; treelike; tolerates air pollution, urban settings; grow in groups or as specimens, woodland borders; showy blooms, dark bluish-black berries support birds | Eastern US except MA, VT, NH, IN, IL, IA, MI, WI, and MN Zones 3–9 |
| Hawthorns | Crataegus spp. | N Bf, w |
Considered small landscape tree but can be pruned to shrub or hedge | As specified below |
| Washington hawthorn | C. phaenopyrum | N Bf, w |
25–30' tall, 25–30' spread; small tree, thorny; full sun; showy fragrant fruit followed by red berries into winter; can prune as hedge; good street tree, flowering specimen | Eastern US except MA, VT, NH, WI, MN, and IA Zones 3–8 |
| green Hawthorn ‘Winter King’ | C. viridis ‘Winter King’ | N Bf, w |
25–35' tall, 25–35' spread; small tree, can be pruned; showy flowers and fruit; largely thornless; tolerates drought, clay soil, pollution; disease-resistant cultivar; one of the best hawthorns for landscape, street, and urban settings | Cultivar Zones 4–7 |
| Redbud | Cercis canadensis | I N (esp. for butterflies) |
20–30' tall, 25–35' spread; full sun to part shade; very early blossoms; good street tree, along patio, woodland margins; tolerates clay soil | Eastern US except MA, VT, NH, and MN Zones 4–8 |
| Serviceberries | Amelanchier spp. | very early blossoms with nectar for pollinators and fruit for birds | All Amelanchier species are popular with birds; only some listed here | As specified below |
| Allegheny serviceberry synonymous with smooth serviceberry; often considered same species as downy or shadblow serviceberry | A. laevis or A. arborea | N Bs |
15–40' tall, 15–30' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates air pollution; good street tree; attractive understory, woodland margins, informal hedge, screen; berries good for jams, jellies, pies; attractive fall foliage | Eastern US except FL, MS, LA, AR, and MO Zones 4–9 |
| Canadian serviceberry | A. canadensis | N Bs |
25–35' tall, 15–20' spread; full sun to part shade; tolerates wide range of soils; showy early-spring flowers yield green berries that turn red then purplish black late summer; best along woodland margins, stream banks, ponds | Eastern coastal US from ME to GA, including TN and WV Zones 4–8 |
| Viburnums | Viburnum spp. | Berries especially attractive | Shrubs or trees, depending on pruning practices | As specified below |
| Blackhaw | V. prunifolium | I N Bf, w |
12–15' tall, 6–12' spread; showy flowers late spring, showy edible fruit; tolerates drought, air pollution, clay soil; good as shrub border, tall hedge, screen; prune right after flowering | Eastern US except FL, MN, and east of NY Zones 3–9 |
| Nannyberry | V. lentago | I N Bf, w |
14–16' tall, 6–12' spread; fastgrowing, shade tolerant; showy white blossoms in spring; blue-black berry-like drupes can persist into winter; background planting, tall hedge, screen, shrub border; with pruning, can be single-trunked tree | Eastern US except TN, NC, SC, FL, MS, LA, and AR Zones 2–8 |
Vines, unique forms of shrubs, give your yard or garden a dramatic vertical-surface addition. Thus, it’s likely no surprise that vines also add some big-time avian benefits. These generally vigorous, fast-growing plants have the amazing versatility to serve in not just one, but two almost opposite landscaping capacities—either twisting and twining up, along, and around some structure or reaching, winding, and trailing across ground features, acting as a tried-and-true ground cover.
As vertically growing plants, vines typically make dandy nest sites with easy in-and-out access for the likes of Northern Cardinals, Brown Thrashers, Northern Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, and Gray Catbirds. All shrub-nesters readily accept a vine’s dense cover for camouflage. Depending on the vine, its vegetation may also serve well as a four-season roost site, but nearly all of them serve birds extraordinarily well during at least three seasons.
As ground cover, vines create supportive habitat surface where perhaps there once was nothing. For instance, if the vine is covering something—like a rock pile, for example, or some eyesore otherwise without remedy—it can certainly add habitat. Think cover, insect support, nectar, and perhaps nesting in what would otherwise be a barren, wasted spot.
Although it likely goes without saying, the vines listed here also boast food value, mostly nectar and some berries.
The biggest danger of choosing American bittersweet to enhance your bird-friendly landscape is the risk of a purchase that, instead of being our native bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), turns out instead to be the Asian invasive, oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus). The two look very much alike, so it’s feasible that even without the intention to mislead, the invasives could end up on nursery racks. So be sure of your nursery’s reliability. Ask questions. Double check the scientific name.
The native variety, however, will reward you for your efforts. Even though the red berries popping from their orange hulls offer nostalgic autumn home decor, who would want to rob the birds? Bittersweet berries are a favorite of berry lovers Eastern Towhees, Northern Mockingbirds, American Robins, and most other berry lovers. The vine is easily grown and will be happiest left alone in poor growing conditions along stream-side or pond, trailing across bushes or twining on trees.
Crossvine makes a statement! Its early-spring burst of rich orange trumpet-shaped flowers sometimes occurs before Ruby-throated Hummingbirds arrive, but a few blossoms decorate the vine most of the summer. As if they’re ever on the watch (and they most likely are), hummers check out the nectar the minute flowers open. In my garden, Northern Cardinals set up housekeeping among the tangles. Mourning Doves like it, too, and a whole assortment of birds roost in the shelter from night to night, depending on who gets there first. The vine needs decent support, but compared to other native vines, it’s relatively slow-growing and stays calm, cool, and collected, minding its manners in a tidy garden.
Early-blooming crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) attracts numerous insects and hummingbirds and serves well for nesting birds.
Funny name, Dutchman’s pipe. The vine earns its moniker because its 2-inch-long, curved, somewhat trumpet-like flowers look a bit like Dutch smoking pipes. Even so, the flowers are rather inconspicuous, tucked among the leaves. The vines grow vigorously, although the wooly Dutchman’s pipe is the far better behaved of the two. So I’ve listed both species (one is not a cultivar of the other) not only because of the behavior differences, but also because the wooly Dutchman’s pipe is native farther north and west than the other. In addition, as the name suggests, the wooly species has a somewhat hairy texture to leaves and stems, while the other is smooth-leaved.
Both vines have heart-shaped leaves that hang overlapping, thus creating dense shade. In the wild, you’ll find the vines along stream banks and in moist woods, climbing trees and shrubs. In your yard, on a trellis or other support, you can, if necessary, prune in late winter. Since the vines grow well from seed, they can be an economical addition to your landscape. Just keep in mind that these vines will not tolerate dry soils, so consider your planting spot before you choose.
The vines are recommended for butterflies, especially since they are larval hosts for the exquisite pipevine swallowtail butterfly. I’m always torn about this vine. I love pipevine swallowtails, but the birds also love the caterpillars. Apparently, though, Mother Nature gets it all balanced out, because even when I see birds with caterpillars, I still see enough pipevine swallowtails to keep me happy.
Two similarly named vines, Dutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla) and the somewhat less vigorous wooly Dutchman’s pipe (A. tomentosa), are host plants for the pipevine swallowtail, nectaring here on nonnative zinnia.
Probably no commercial nursery stocks wild grape vines, so I include it here as a reminder: If wild grape vines grow on your property, encourage their presence. More than 50 species of birds are known to dine on the berries, especially during fall migration. (Yes, wild grapes hang onto the vines much longer than those wine grapes cultivated for human consumption.) In fact, when I’m out and about watching for fall migrants, I look for grape vines and Virginia creeper vines (more on them later), knowing full well the buffet they offer will draw birds to the vines—lots of birds.
In spring, grape vines draw migrants by the score. I assume the hungry hordes are plucking bugs and caterpillars from the undersides of leaves and from hiding places in the stringy bark; but when I take a close look, I can never find anything buggy. Since the birds seem to readily find whatever is the main attraction, however, I’m willing to enjoy watching the treasure hunt.
Wild grape vines (Vitis riparia) attract over 50 bird species, many of which, like this Chestnut-sided Warbler, come to forage for bugs.
Above and beyond berries and bugs, though, wild grapes may be the only source for the stringy bark that Baltimore and Orchard Orioles need for their swinging pendulous nests. Other birds use the bark for more traditional nest structures, too, including Northern Cardinals and Brown Thrashers.
Technically, in southwestern Indiana, I shouldn’t be growing false jasmine, also called false jessamine, evening trumpet-flower, and Carolina yellow jasmine. I’m north of its native range. But given climate change and the northward-marching movement of vegetation, I’ve given it a try—primarily because I’m in love with its evergreen qualities. As crazy as it sounds, I’ve planted both crossvine and false jasmine on the same trellis. The combination means I get two sets of blooms, the bright yellow of jasmine and the rich orange of crossvine, but not at the same time! By significantly extending the blooming period—and nectar opportunities—the combo serves up nectar and bugs for double the time. And birds get double their money. Gives a whole new meaning to ordering a combo!
Also called flame honeysuckle, my treasured trumpet honeysuckle came to my yard from my father’s yard. It came to his yard from his mother’s yard. And it came to his mother’s yard from the yard of her mother who, in turn, grew up in her mother’s house, the original 1853 homestead. It’s an old plant. It’s native. I’ve since bought three additional ones—and transplanted shoots from all of them for both friends and additional yard sites.
Trumpet honeysuckle, also known as flame honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), is a favorite for its early hummingbird-magnet blossoms and dense vining habit, perfect for Brown Thrasher and Northern Cardinal nests.
Pruner’s
PAIN
Unknowingly, we sometimes cause nest failures by overzealous and untimely pruning. I’m guilty, and I’m not proud of it. You see, I once pruned a trumpet honeysuckle, unaware that Brown Thrashers were nesting within. Although I stopped the instant I understood, the nest was partly exposed, and my human scent was all over the vine. The following morning, the nest sat askew, the eggs gone, the adults nowhere to be seen. Pruning away protective branches or clearing tangled areas that serve as nest sites almost always invites predation, and evidence indicated my behavior gave a snake the clue it could find lunch. “Sorry” doesn’t quite cut it in such a situation. I learned my lesson, and it was bitter. So, show your best manners by waiting until nesting concludes before whacking away at what seems to be overgrowth. Take it from one who—sadly—knows.
So you’re guessing there’s something about these plants that I really like? Indeed! It’s the hummingbirds that visit these trumpet-shaped, apparently nectar-rich flowers. When I see Ruby-throated Hummingbirds with white heads, I know they’ve been nectaring on the honeysuckle and, in the process, dusted their heads with pollen. There’s no question in my mind that hummers in my great-great-grandmother’s yard did the same.
Planting a trumpet vine demands effort. And space. It’s not just about digging a hole and setting the plant. So give pause here for some details. Trumpet vine serves up a dandy supply of nectar to everything from bees to hummingbirds to Baltimore Orioles that, to feed, poke their beaks into the base of the flowers. The vigorous vine establishes really deep roots and will climb a utility pole in a matter of two years. So it needs ample sturdy support, lots and lots of space, and, in order to keep it somewhat contained, commitment to pruning annually. In reality, then, save this giant for a giant space where you can appreciate rather than fight its vigor, where it can climb and vine at abandon, well out of the way of the need for tidiness. The birds will love you.
At plant-for-birds seminars, when I show photos of poison ivy vines next to Virginia creeper vines, someone almost always insists that the five-leaved Virginia creeper is, in fact, poison oak. Not so. In fact, poison oak, like poison ivy, has three leaves. It’s a tough woody vine that sometimes grows into bush-like abundance, and it may grow where you live if you live south. But where I live, it’s absent.
Virginia creeper, on the other hand, is a delicate vine that climbs trees (and buildings, if you let it) and produces clusters of deep-blue berries just in time for fall migrants to gorge on the rich lipids that energize their long flights south. Ironically, though, the vines are best identified in fall by their scarlet leaves—with the luscious berries almost hidden in the blaze.
Like wild grape, these vines are unlikely to be marketed at local nurseries. Just be aware of their presence if they pop up in your yard. Give them a home if and where you can. If I can’t find grape vines in my search for fall warblers, I readily accept Virginia creeper vine watch-sites.
Because there’s Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) and Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda), both of which closely resemble American wisteria (Wisteria frutenscens), make your native purchase from a trusted vendor. The highly invasive Asian varieties will climb everything in sight—and tear down sturdy trees along the way. The American wisteria, however, while fast-growing, is a gentle soul by comparison. Pruning may be necessary, depending on where your support structure stands and how much cover you want, but pruning also encourages blossoms. Again, birds and bees as well as other insects find the nectar enticing, and the vine offers adequate shelter for nesting. Female Baltimore and Orchard Orioles have visited my vines as well, stripping string-like bark shreds for their nests.
American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens), far better behaved than the commonly marketed invasive Asian wisterias (W. sinensis and W. floribunda), blooms beautifully and attracts birds with its repeat blossoms, seed pods, and stringy bark that female Baltimore Orioles love for their nests.
About the
Lists
The vines listed here are, according to the United States Department of Agriculture Plant Database (online at www.plants.usda.gov), native to states as indicated. Note, however, that while a plant may be native in your state, it may not be native to every part of your state and certainly not to every eco-region. Before making final choices, consider soil texture, moisture, slope, and required sunlight. Your planting zone and eco-region combined will determine suitable growing conditions in your locale. To find your planting zone, check online at http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/.
The plant lists in this reference are not, nor are they intended to be, all-inclusive. Rather, the plants here were chosen because:
1. They are attractive to birds because, in some way, they meet birds’ needs for food, shelter, and/or nesting.
2. They are easily grown, well behaved, and suitable for landscaping in various settings, as described.
Because vines typically take their size based on the their supporting structures and can be pruned to suit, no height or spread sizes are listed for them.
Vines for Any Sized Structure
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | COMMENTS | NATIVE, PLANTING ZONES |
| Bittersweet, American | Celastrus scandens | Full sun to shade, lean soil; fall fruit, year-round cover, nesting, important winter food source; quick cover for fences and other structures; also used as ground cover | Eastern US except FL Zones 3–8 |
| Crossvine | Bignonia capreolata | Full sun to part shade, average well-drained soil; grown mostly for early-spring trumpet-shaped flowers; vigorous grower; nectar, bugs; closely related to trumpet vine, Campsis radicans | Eastern US except ME, MA, VT, NH, PA, NY, NJ, RI, CT, MI, WI, MN, and IA Zones 5–9 |
| Dutchman’s pipe | Aristolochia macrophylla | vigorous grower, forms dense shade, heart-shaped leaves; intolerant of dry soil; inconspicuous flowers May–June; prune in late winter to control growth; host to pipevine butterfly; good nesting protection; similar to A. tomentosa | East Coast and Southeast except FL but including KY, TN, and WV Zones 4–8 |
| Wooly Dutchman’s pipe | Aristolochia tomentosa | Similar to A. macrophylla but less vigorous, native farther north and west; forms dense shade, heart-shaped leaves; intolerant of dry soil; inconspicuous flowers May–June; host to pipevine butterfly; considered tried and trouble-free | Eastern US except MI, MN, IA,VA, WV, PA, and Northeast Zones 5–8 |
| Grape, wild | Vitis spp. | Fruit eaten by more than 50 birds, excellent nesting and nest material (shreddy bark); nearly 70 cultivars available but wild best for birds; full sun best, tolerates wide range of soils but needs good drainage | Eastern US Zones 3–9 |
| Jasmine, Carolina yellow synonymous with evening trumpet-flower, false jessamine, false jasmine | Gelsemium sempervirens | Evergreen vine; full sun, organically rich, well-drained, moist soil; showy, fragrant yellow flowers Feb-Apr; without support, grows as bushy ground cover; drapes in patio containers | AR, TN, VA, and south Zones 7–10 |
| Trumpet honeysuckle synonymous with flame honeysuckle | Lonicera sempervirens | Full sun to part shade, average well-drained soil; nectar for pollinators, hummingbirds; good cover, nesting; can be pruned to ground in winter to refresh vine tangle | Eastern US except WI Zones 4–9 |
| Trumpet vine synonymous with trumpet creeper and cow itch vine | Campsis radicans | Full sun; good in hot, dry spots; hummingbirds and orioles attracted to nectar; grows vigorously, forming weighty vines; prune to ground every few years to tame | Eastern US except MN and ME Zones 4–9 |
| Virginia creeper | Parthenocissus quinquefolia | Tree-climbing vine; full sun, easily grown in medium well-drained soil; striking scarlet fall foliage; fall fruit magnet for migrating birds | Eastern US Zones 3–9 |
| Wisteria, American | Wisteria frutescens | Full sun, slightly acidic, moderately fertile, well-drained soil; prune regularly to control shape and size and promote flowering; flowers hang in grape-like lilac-purple clusters; dislikes being transplanted | Eastern US except MN, WI, ME, VT, and NH Zones 5–9 |
A Veery, like most of its thrush cousins, likes to stay in the thick of things—thick vegetation, that is, low to the ground—so brambles must surely be ideal for its secretive ways.
If at all possible, tuck in a vine somewhere on your property. Check your yard map, allow for the vertical space, and sketch in the footprint. Label the space with the vine you’ve chosen.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention brambles—only because the birds love, love, love ’em! Where we live, blackberry and dewberry brambles (Rubus spp.) grow wild and tend to pop up in unmowed areas. The native bramble patch on the hillside behind our house hosts nesting Eastern Towhees and Song Sparrows. It’s also where Northern Cardinals and Carolina Wrens take their fledglings to keep them safe until better flight days. The berries feed most of the avian species in our yard, so I never get that blackberry pie I so love.
Though I’m not fond of thorns, I guess, in this case, thorns are okay. After all, thorns are the primary reason birds love brambles so much. Hawks won’t usually crash headlong into thorny brambles chasing lunch, so birds feel safe among the canes.
So if yours is a super-sized yard, you may have room to create a bramble patch. If they don’t come up naturally, plant a few berry stalks and let them multiply. The birds will love the shelter and berries—unless you manage a pie for yourself!
While you likely have many shrubs, tall understory plants, and vines on your “possible” list—all choices suitable for your location and your size yard—once again look first toward the species absent from your neighborhood. Consider, in light of your neighboring habitats, how you can best serve birds throughout the four seasons.
Then decide. If you haven’t already, take time now to add the shrubs, tall understory plants, and vines to your yard list, updating your preferences.
I wish I could see your yard map now! I’m betting the excitement is growing. Onward to Step 3!