Elderberries: Native throughout much of the United States and Canada.

Cranberries can be grown outside of a bog, but do benefit from moist soil and lots of compost. Cranberries: northeastern, mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states and farther south in the Appalachian Mountains.Blueberries: The highbush blueberry is native to the East and Midwest, other blueberry species are native to most of the United States and Canada.California blackberry, also called dewberry, is native to the Pacific Northwest.

Blackberries: The common, or Allegheny, blackberry grows in the Northeast and Midwest and south to Virginia and Missouri.American Persimmons: Native from Connecticut to Iowa and Kansas south to Florida and Texas, American persimmon trees produce ornamental, purplish-orange fruits that hang on leafless branches in autumn.Many of our favorite berries are native to certain regions of the country and a treat for humans and wildlife alike. Share the Fruit of Your Labor - with Native Edibles These stalks and seed pods also add texture and visual interest on an otherwise barren landscape in a garden habitat. Winter wildflower stalks also provide wildlife with places to seek refuge from storms and predators, and insects pass the winter in the dead stalks. Seed-eating birds such as juncos and goldfinches enjoy the dried flower heads of asters, coneflowers and other native plants.

These include: woodpeckers, thrashers, quail, robins, waxwings, mockingbirds, bluebirds, grouse, catbirds, thrushes and even chickadees and titmice.Īs a wildlife gardener, you can help wildlife have a year-round bounty by leaving the seed heads and berries intact, while still weeding or clearing some lower branches and leaves as needed. Many of these same plants also serve as host plants for butterflies and provide nectar and pollen for many pollinators.īirds that rely on insects in the summer often turn to berries when the weather turns cold. The best winter-fruiting plants for wildlife are native trees and shrubs. Many birds and small mammals rely on the late summer and fall harvest of berries and seeds.

Seed rescue birds