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Native Trees and Shrubs for Oceanside Gardens

Bearberry is a low-growing evergreen shrub for salty ground.

An oceanside garden poses special challenges for plants. The wind-whipped salt-laden air and sandy soil typical of such sites is inhospitable to many sensitive garden favorites, such as border phlox (Phlox paniculata), primroses (Primula spp.), and summersweet (Clethra alnifolia). When faced with these challenging conditions, some gardeners go full denial, erecting barriers to the wind and adding truckloads of humus to the thirsty soil to grow the ungrowable. Such efforts usually end with the realization that defying nature is not a viable gardening strategy.

A more successful approach is to embrace the many rewarding plants that naturally inhabit coastal regions or a streetside garden where winter salt is common. Many of these seaside natives are still not seen in gardens nearly as much as they might be, even in places near the ocean’s roar. They’re also ideally adapted for inland gardens where salt and drought are problems. If sandy soil and salt-happy road crews pose challenges for your garden, coastal natives are among the best answers.

American persimmon fruits are beautiful and delicious when allowed to ripen and added to baked goods.

Trees, shrubs, and shrubby ground covers form the core of any garden, coastal or otherwise. Here we highlight 11 of the best such plants that hail from North American seaside habitats. Most offer the added bonus of being favorites of pollinators and other wildlife. As you’d expect, all are happiest in full sun but will tolerate light shade in some cases. Sandy or otherwise well-drained soil is best, with a light mulch of Fafard Organic Compost to help buffer the soil from extreme conditions.

Salt-Tolerant Native Shrubs

Nantucket Serviceberry (Amelanchier nantucketensis)

The spring flowers of Amelanchier nantucketensis develop into edible summer fruits.
The spring flowers of Nantucket serviceberry develop into edible summer fruits.

Most gardeners know serviceberries as small trees, but this rare East Coast native is a suckering 4-foot-tall shrub. As with most of its tribe, the Nantucket species (Zones 4-8) produces white early-spring flowers followed by edible dark blueish berries that ripen in late spring and early summer. Its close cousin running serviceberry (Amelanchier stolonifera) will also do in a pinch. Both can be hard to find in nurseries. Look for native plants in coastal regions from Nova Scotia to Virginia.

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)

Bearberry is evergreen and covers the ground in emerald. (Image by Russell Stafford)

Spreading tufted mats of small rounded evergreen leaves give rise to pinkish urn-shaped flowers in spring, evolving to ornamental red berries in late summer. Even in the poor sandy soils bearberry (USDA Hardiness Zones 2-7) prefers, the groundcover shrub can take a while to settle in, so it’s not for gardeners in a hurry. The natural distribution of the shrub includes the upper latitudes of North America and Eurasia.

Groundsel Bush (Baccharis halimifolia)

Groundsel bush has impressive silvery white seedheads in the fall.

Most hardy members of the aster family are herbaceous perennials, dying back to the ground every winter. Groundsel bush (Zones 5-10) is anything but, forming an upright medium to large shrub – up to 15 feet tall and wide in moist fertile soil. Its growth is relatively restrained in dry sandy conditions. Clad in attractive shiny bright-green foliage from spring until late fall, Baccharis halimifolia takes center stage in late summer, engulfing itself in clouds of small white flowers. Female plants go a step further, producing downy silvery seedheads that glisten in the slanting late-season sunlight. The seeds drift away in late fall, often producing a large crop of progeny – so you and your neighbors will need to be on the lookout for possible unwanted seedlings. The shrub’s native distribution is from Massachusetts to Texas.

Inkberry (Ilex glabra)

Inkberry is a reliable evergreen native shrub. Many good cultivated varieties are offered.

Inkberry (Zones 4-9) has become a staple evergreen shrub for sunny and lightly shaded gardens throughout much of the US. This is largely thanks to the introduction of compact varieties such as ‘Shamrock’, ‘Green Billow’, and ‘Forever Emerald’, which maintain a dense compact habit rather than becoming sparse and rangy like the straight species. The glossy spineless dark-green leaves are joined by small white flowers in spring, and on female plants by little black berries in fall. The cultivar ‘Ivory Queen’ is showier in fruit, bearing pearly white fruit. The native distribution is from Nova Scotia to Louisiana.

Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)

Rug Juniper is a classic landscape shrub for sea or oceanside landscapes.

Even the most casual gardener is likely to be familiar with this garden workhorse, whose prostrate scaly-leaved evergreen branches provide ground cover in many a sunny garden niche. Plants often turn bronze-green in winter. Numerous varieties of creeping juniper (Zones 3-8) are available, including vigorous blue-tinged ‘Wiltonii’ (commonly known as blue rug juniper), and ground-hugging, fine-textured ‘Bar Harbor’. The native distribution is across temperate North America.

Northern Bayberry (Morella caroliniensis)

In the spring, northern bayberry has inconspicuous flowers followed by waxy bayberries later in the season. (Image by Russell Stafford)

Long prized for its glossy aromatic semi-evergreen foliage and its winter berries, northern bayberry (Zones 3-7) spreads gradually into somewhat sparse 6- to 8-foot thickets that work well as informal hedging. Cedar waxwings, yellow-rumped warblers, and other birds hungrily harvest the berries in late winter. Both male and female plants are required to produce the fruits, which were traditionally used to scent bayberry candles. The shrub exists from Newfoundland to North Carolina.

Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)

Beach plums are delicious and the tough little shrubs make good specimen plants.

The tart, grape-sized fruits of Prunus maritima (Zones 4-8) excel in preserves, syrups, vinegars, and jams. Beach plum fanciers typically harvest them from the wilds of the Atlantic coast when they ripen in late summer. Plant a few female beach plums along with a pollenizing male, and you’ll have a harvest right outside your door. Although a rather scraggly 3- to 5-foot thing in its native dune habitats, beach plum forms a dense, attractive 6- to 10-foot shrub under garden conditions. Swarms of snowy white flowers in spring are a further ornamental feature. Most plants bear irregularly from year to year, so look for selections – such as ‘Snow’ and ‘Jersey Beach Plum’ – that are more consistent producers. Cultivars ‘Nana’ and ‘Ecos’ bear reliable annual crops on more compact 3- to 5-foot-tall plants. You can further enhance beach plum’s productivity and habit by thinning out old, unproductive branches in early spring. Beaches from Maine to Virginia are home to the shrubby plum.

Dwarf Sand Cherry (Prunus pumila)

The bright green foliage of dwarf sand cherry brightens summer landscapes. (Image by Russell Stafford)

Edible fruits are also a feature of the outstanding 2-foot tall ground cover cherry (Zones 3-8), which will quickly cover a sandy bank with its sprawling stems. The summer-ripening fruits are preceded by white flowers in spring. Dwarf sand cherry can be found along coasts from Ontario to Virginia.

Salt-Tolerant Native Trees

American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)

American Persimmon flowers are urn-shaped and appear in spring.

A must for the edible coastal garden, this Connecticut-to-Texas native does indeed bear tasty persimmons (Zones 5-10). Ripening orange in fall, the squat, tennis-ball-sized fruits mellow from astringent to tartly flavorful as they soften. A tree in full fruit gives the appearance of being laden with miniature pumpkins. You’ll need both male and female trees – or a self-pollinating selection such as ‘Meador’ – to get fruit. American persimmon matures into a large picturesque open-branched tree with handsome, plated, charcoal-gray bark and bold, oval, deciduous leaves. Few trees can match it as a four-season ornamental.

American Holly (Ilex opaca)

The fruits of female American holly trees are just as pretty as those of European holly.

If you’re looking for a classic spiny-leaved, conical, tree-sized holly (Zones 5-9), here’s the native for you. Growing slowly to 20 feet or more, it maintains a dense, fully branched habit in sunny sites. Partially shaded specimens are sparser and lankier. With its signature shape and its red berries from fall into winter, American holly makes an arresting feature plant. It also works well as an impenetrable barrier hedge. Selections that depart from the norm in size, fruit or leaf color, or other characteristics are also available. Look for the holly in native lands from Massachusetts to Texas.

Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida)

Mature pitch pines develop artful, windswept branches.

The signature species of pine barrens and other sandy habitats in eastern North America, Pinus rigida (Zone 3 to 8) typically grows as a somewhat gnarled small to medium-sized tree. It can attain considerable height in more fertile habitats. Best for gardens is ‘Sherman Eddy’, a superior dwarf cultivar, which forms a rounded, 12- to 15-foot specimen with densely needled, bottlebrush-like branchlets. Even more dwarf is ‘Sand Beach’, a mounding prostrate selection. Look for the tree from Maine to Georgia.

Garden Perennials that Gently Self Sow

Butterfly weed is a lovely native that will sow itself very gently and weave into the garden.

Some perennials persist in the garden not only as over-wintering plants, but also via self-sown seedlings. With their penchant for popping up spontaneously here and there, they’re a great fit for cottage gardens, wildflower borders, and other informal plantings. Additionally, they obviate the need for deadheading!

Unwelcome Self Sowers

Admittedly, a few perennials can take self-sowing too far. For example, a lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) that is allowed to go to seed will soon produce a population bomb, spawning gazillions of offspring. Although the plants profiled below typically self-sow in moderation, they can be more prolific in favorable situations. Keep an eye out and a hoe at hand just in case!

You’ll also want to discourage self-sowing by named varieties of perennial species whose seedlings are not true to type. Allow your pristine Phlox paniculata ‘David’ to self-sow, and you’ll likely soon have a flock of muddy-purple wild-type offspring. The same goes for many other groups of perennials, including columbines (Aquilegia spp.), and just about anything from the aster/daisy family, though on occasion their offspring can be quite pretty.

Aquilegia hybrids gently self-sow, but their seedlings yield various unexpected surprises.

Finally, avoid heavy applications of mulch in areas where you want to encourage self-sowing. Most perennial seeds will not germinate while are buried under a 3-inch stratum of shredded bark. A much more satisfactory method of controlling weeds is to allow desirable plants to seed themselves densely into any garden gaps and to keep the gaps weeded while the new seedlings develop. A light early-spring scattering of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost is all the mulch you’ll need in an established, densely populated border.

Welcome Self Sowers

Black cohosh, bugbane (Actaea racemosa)

The white flower spikes and ferny foliage of black cohosh are both attractive.

Native to moist fertile woodlands over much of the eastern U.S. from zones 4-8, this imposing perennial produces moderate numbers of seedlings in similar garden habitats. Mature plants form ferny-leaved, 3-to 4-foot clumps, surmounted in summer by white bottlebrush flower spikes. Several other U.S. native bugbanes are also well worth growing, most notably the relatively compact, bold-leaved, late-summer-blooming Actaea rubifolia.

Blue-star (Amsonia spp.)

The pale flowers of Arkansas blue-star mingle with tall Allium.

Most members of this mostly North American genus will self-sow obligingly (but not invasively) in sunny to lightly shaded garden niches. Almost all amsonias are large, upright, long-lived clump-formers with handsome, lance-shaped, disease-resistant foliage and starry, light blue, late-spring flowers. Arkansas blue-star (Amsonia hubrichtii, Zones 5-9) is especially handsome, thanks to its extremely narrow leaves that lend its 3-foot clumps a hazy, dreamy look. It’s also one of the most reliable self-sowers of the lot.

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Both butterflies and bees are attracted to the bright flowers of butterfly weed.

A durable eastern U.S. native for hot dry sunny niches, butterfly weed summons early-summer pollinators with its brilliant flat-headed clusters of orange to yellow flowers on 2-foot stems. The ensuing seed pods split open to release downy seeds that float away on the summer breeze – and germinate the following spring. Volunteer seedlings can be sparse to abundant, depending on wind patterns and other vagaries. Grow it in zones 3-9.

Bleeding heart (Dicentra spp.)

Fringed bleeding heart is an exceptional native for pollinators.

Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia, Zones 3-9) would be worth growing for its lacy, finely divided, blue-green foliage alone. For most gardeners (and hummingbirds), though, it’s the flowers (which resemble fanciful pink flasks rather than hearts) that are the primary feature of this lovely eastern U.S. woodlander. Bloom repeats sporadically from spring through fall, spawning the occasional seedling. Hybrids (such as ‘Luxuriant’) between Dicentra eximia and its western U.S. cousin Dicentra formosa (Zones 4-8) are sterile and seedless. At around a foot tall, Dicentra eximia and its hybrids are miniatures compared to the species whose cordate flowers inspired the common name “bleeding heart”. The purple-pink hearts of Dicentra spectabilis (recently re-dubbed Lamprocapnos spectabilis, Zones 3-9) open in mid-spring on arching stems that ascend to 3 feet or more. There’s also a beguiling white-flowered variant. All manifestations of the species self-sow modestly and true to form.

Gas plant (Dictamnus albus)

Gas plant blooms have a sweet citrusy scent.

Slow from seed and in growth, gas plant is one of a multitude of splendid perennials that are rarely offered because they are a poor fit for mass-market plant production. Give it a few years, and it will mature into a 3-foot hummock of lustrous, dark-green foliage decked in late spring with spikes of fragrant, showy purple or white, hummingbird-seducing flowers. One of the best strategies for propagating this long-lived Eurasian native is to wait for volunteer seedlings, which occur sporadically. Gas plant has only one liability as an ornamental: in rare instances, the volatile oils that inspired its name can cause blistering and other symptoms of acute dermatitis. These volatile compounds are also responsible for a time-honored garden ritual. Hold a match near the plant on a calm warm evening and its “gases” will briefly flare into flame. Grow in zones 3-9.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Here purple and white coneflower variants mingle in a naturalistic garden.

No need to plant more of this beloved Midwest native: once it’s in your garden, it will almost certainly give you a scattering of volunteers. Expect to see their rose-pink, dark-coned flowers within a year after they germinate. Seedlings of the slew of recently introduced hybrids involving Echinacea purpurea (Zones 4-9) and the yellow-flowered Echinacea paradoxa (Zones 4-9) are a different story. Even if they survive the winter – a dubious proposition in USDA hardiness zones 6 and lower – they’ll produce flowers unlike those of their parent.

Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

The unique foliage and flowers of this prairie native add interest to native gardens. (Image by Kurt Stueber)

You might think that a perennial with yucca-like foliage (and a botanical name to match) would favor arid conditions. In fact, Eryngium yuccifolium (Zones 3-9) often occurs in moist habitats in its native range, which spans much of eastern and central North America. Give it a reasonably fertile, not too dry garden soil, and it will send up 4-foot stalks in midsummer, topped by spheres of silvery flowers. Allow it to seed, and you’ll be rewarded with progeny the following spring.

Bearfoot hellebore (Helleborus foetidus)

The pale chartreuse flowers of bearfoot hellebore bloom in late winter to early spring.

Most hellebores self-sow, given the opportunity. Helleborus foetidus (Zones 5-8) is perhaps the most adaptable and fecund of the lot, prospering and self-propagating in sun and shade. A member of the shrubby side of the tribe, it bears leaves and pale chartreuse flowers on upright stems that can ascend to 18 inches or more. The foliage is pleasantly pungent rather than unpleasantly fetid.

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Cardinal flower spikes have blooms of the purest red imaginable.

The brilliant red spires of cardinal flower (Zones 3-9) are a common midsummer sight in wetland habitats of eastern and central North America. Quite often they’re attended by adoring hummingbirds. Relatively short-lived in the garden, they persist by sowing themselves into moist exposed soil, germinating into evergreen rosettes. Equally wonderful is blue cardinal flower (Lobelia siphilitica, Zones 4-8), another eastern North American native and midsummer hummingbird fave. It succeeds in just about any garden position except deep shade. Its white-flowered form is also compelling.

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

Virginia bluebells will make any spring garden look lovely.

Give this eastern U.S. native (Zones 3-9) a good moist soil in partial shade, and it will spread freely both from underground rhizomes and from self-seeding. A member of the borage family, it produces the blue flowers typical of the tribe. The blue-green, tongue-shaped leaves go dormant soon after the flowers fade in late spring.

Celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)

Wooded native gardens are suited to celandine poppies.

An excellent shade-garden companion for Virginia bluebells (as well as trilliums and woodland phlox), this reliably self-sowing eastern U.S. native (Zones 4-9) bears glistening yellow mini-poppies on 18-inch plants clothed in large lobed leaves. Its East-Asian analog Stylophorum lasiocarpum blooms in summer.

Among the numerous other perennials that seed themselves are:

  • Blazing star (Liatris spp.);
  • Patrinia (Patrinia spp.);
  • Beardtongue (Penstemon spp.);
  • Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus);
  • and Yellow fumitory (Pseudofumaria lutea).

They’re living proof that going to seed is not necessarily a bad thing!

Well-Mannered Groundcovers for Shade

Foamflower is a highly desirable native flowering groundcover for shade.

Back when one-size-fits-all gardening was a thing, ground covers for shade were seemingly as easy as one-two-three: creeping myrtle (Vinca minor), English ivy (Hedera helix), and Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis). That is before they all began invading wildlands. All were neatly arrayed under an equally ubiquitous Norway maple or Bradford pear– both equally invasive and troublesome.

It was bound to happen. Introduce lots of one vigorous, spreading plant species, and you increase the likelihood that it will become a pest itself by invading local native plant communities. It did not take long for all three non-native, go-to ground covers to be added to the invasives lists of many U.S. states, particularly in the Southeast and Northwest.

Unfortunately, going ubiquitous presented additional problems in the garden. As anyone who has ever tried to maintain the “perfect” lawn and garden can attest, mass plantings are easy pickings for mass invasions of pests and diseases. Japanese spurge loses a lot of its allure when it’s riddled with Volutella blight, as is all too common these days.

Well-Mannered Groundcovers for Shade

Fortunately, excellent (and arguably superior) ground cover alternatives abound, many of them native. Feeding the soil with quality compost, such as Fafard Premium Garden Compost Blend, at planting time will encourage good establishment from the start.

Twilight Aster

Twilight aster blooms for a long period in summer and fall.

Who says ground covers have to hug the ground? Some situations call for something taller. Twilight Aster (Aster x herveyi ‘Twilight’ (aka Eurybia x herveyi)) spreads by rhizomes into large swards of broad-leaved rosettes that give rise in summer to leafy 2-foot-tall stems. Plants are crowned with clusters of pale lavender flowers for many weeks in late summer and fall. An incredibly adaptable thing, ‘Twilight’ can handle situations from dry shade to damp sun. This eastern U.S. native goes dormant in winter.

Sedges

Many native sedges are evergreen and make lush groundcovers for shade.

Botanically speaking, they’re not grasses, but sedges provide much the same look for shade with their clumps of narrow-bladed leaves. Masses of low sedges such as Carex pensylvanica and Carex rosea (both eastern U.S. natives) make excellent low-foot-traffic lawn substitutes. For a bolder look, try a clump of seersucker sedge (Carex plantaginea), whose strappy puckered evergreen leaves contrast effectively with lacier shade subjects such as ferns.

Green-and-Gold

Green-and-gold is semi-evergreen and bears loads of bright golden blooms in spring that attract native bees.

Green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is a hardy, attractive woodland native. “Green” references the dense spreading rosettes of fuzzy, crinkled, heart-shaped leaves that hold their color and substance through much of winter. The “gold” is provided by the numerous little yellow “daisies” that spangle the plants in spring and repeat sporadically until fall. Native to woodlands in the Southeast U.S., Chrysogonum virginianum is hardy well north of that, to Zone 5.

Robin’s Plantain

This is one of those rare plants you can plug into the garden just about anywhere – sun or shade.

Often occurring as a rather doughty lawn weed, this plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) is a nearly evergreen eastern U.S. native that occasionally assumes much more pulchritudinous forms. The cultivar ‘Lynnhaven Carpet’, for example, grows into handsome carpets of broad fuzzy gray-green leaves that are decorated in spring with pink daisies on 18-inch stems. It’s one of those rare plants you can plug into the garden just about anywhere – sun or shade. Another delightful selection of robin’s plantain is ‘Meadow Muffin’, with contorted leaves that give its rosettes a bit of a cow-pie look.

Allegheny Spurge

Allegheny spurge has leaves that are elegantly splashed with silver mottling, lending the plant a distinguished look totally lacking in Pachysandra terminalis. (Photo by Zen Sutherland)

Although not a rapid runner like the aforementioned Japanese spurge, our Southeast native Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) far outdistances it as a desirable ornamental. The whorled evergreen leaves – arrayed in mounded 6-inch-tall clumps – are elegantly splashed with silver mottling, lending the plant a distinguished look totally lacking in Pachysandra terminalis. Things get even splashier in spring when conical clusters of frilly white flowers push from the ground, along with the fresh-green new leaves, as the previous year’s foliage fades. It’s one of those early-season garden scenes that makes your heart leap up. Allegheny spurge thrives in moist humus-rich soil, so give it a dose of Fafard compost if your soil is overly sandy or heavy.

Ragwort

Golden flowers light up this native naturalizer in late spring.

Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) and its near look-alike roundleaf ragwort (Packera obovata) provide quick cover for more informal garden areas. Low swaths of bright green rounded leaves emerge from their rapidly spreading roots in early spring, followed a few weeks later by heads of small yellow “daisies” on 2-foot stems. Use golden ragwort in moist garden situations, and roundleaf ragwort in moist to dry niches. They’re both native to much of central and eastern North America.

Creeping Phlox

This evergreen woodland creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) from eastern North America will expand into a ground-hugging carpet.

Don’t let its rather dainty appearance deceive you: this evergreen woodland creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) from eastern North America will expand into a ground-hugging carpet of small spoon-shaped leaves. It also provides a spring garden highlight when it opens its clusters of proportionately large round-lobed flowers, poised on 6-inch stems. Blue-, pink-, violet-, and white-flowered selections are available, but probably the best for ground cover is the vigorous cultivar ‘Sherwood Purple’.

Whorled Stonecrop

A native sedum that thrives in shade? Yes!

If you think stonecrops are drought-loving sun plants, you’re probably not acquainted with Sedum ternatum. Hailing from moist partly shaded habitats over much of central and eastern North America, it makes an excellent small-scale ground cover in similar garden conditions, although it also succeeds in sunnier, drier sites. Its dense low hummocks of fleshy ear-shaped leaves are studded with sprays of white flowers in spring. This highly effective shade plant is still rather rare in gardens – perhaps because of its family associations.

Foamflower

Frothy 6-inch spikes of white flowers appear in spring above spreading expanses of handsome maple-shaped basal leaves. These features of foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), combined with a tough constitution, make for one of the best and most popular native ground covers for easter U.S. gardens. Its variety collina is a clumper rather than a runner, so it’s a better choice where a less rambunctious ground covering plant is required.

Barren Strawberry

Semi-evergreen leaves and bright golden spring flowers make this handsome bee plant a real winner in the garden.

Dense swaths of strawberry-like leaves expand steadily and tenaciously to provide attractive semi-evergreen ground cover in most any garden niche, from dry shade to full sun. Saucer-shaped yellow flowers dot the plants in spring, with a few repeat blooms later on. Recently moved to the genus Geum, barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides aka Geum fragarioides) is one of the best native ground covers for eastern U.S. gardens – under whatever name.

Persimmons and Paw Paws: Fall Fruits of the Forest

So you want to plant a fruit tree? Something that will fill that blank space in the back yard while supplying your family (and impressing your neighbors) with a bumper crop of juicy, scrumptious munchies? Great idea! Of course, you could always opt for a perfunctory apple or peach (which could all too easily develop into a horticultural and aesthetic nightmare). On the other hand, you could plant a tree (or two) that’s native to the eastern United States, offers year-round beauty, and yields succulent fruits that look and taste as if they came from the tropics.

American Persimmons

American persimmons
American persimmons are bitter until after the first frost when they quickly turn sweet.

Case in point: your backyard (if it’s not too small) could grow real persimmons, produced by the only hardy species in the ebony family. How cool is that! Native from the deep Southeast to southernmost New England, American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana, USDA Hardiness Zones 4-9) is a comely, medium-sized tree characterized by knobbly, deeply grooved, “alligator” bark, large oval leaves, and relatively sparse, often sinuous branches.

American persimmon tree bark
The American persimmon is a large tree with alligator-like bark that looks great in winter.

Of greatest interest to culinary gardeners, however, are its flavorful fruits, which put on a show as they ripen orange in late summer and early fall. A heavily fruiting tree gives the impression of being hung with hosts of miniature pumpkins. Astringent at first, the pulpy flesh sweetens and mellows to an eggnog-like flavor as the fruits mature, reaching their peak as they wrinkle and soften. It makes for good fresh eating, as well as for yummy puddings, pies, and preserves. Far less remarkable are the fragrant, pale greenish-yellow, late-spring flowers, which tend to be exclusively male or female, requiring two trees for pollination and fruiting. Self-fruitful persimmons do occur, though, including ‘Meador’, an exceptionally cold-hardy, prolifically fruiting selection that bears at a relatively young age (typically 10 years).

Paw Paws

Paw Paws

If you’d like a cool tropicalesque native fruit tree in a somewhat smaller size, there’s always the only hardy member of the custard apple family. Paw paw (Asimina triloba, zones 5-9) occurs in the understory of rich woodlands from the mid-Atlantic to the Southeast to the Midwest, typically growing as a gaunt shrub distinguished only by its bold, oblong leaves that broaden toward their tips. But it undergoes a total personality change in sunny or lightly shaded gardens, developing into a small, densely leaved, round-headed tree that brings an equatorial vibe to the temperate landscape. It also produces its large potato-shaped fruits much more willingly in cultivation than in the wild, provided more than one variety is grown.

Paw Paws flowers

The fruit’s relatively thin, pale green to yellow-green rind encloses a fleshy interior that turns yellow as it ripens to a custardy texture in late summer or early fall. Flavor varies from delectable to astringent, with the flesh of most named varieties (such as ‘Susquehanna’ and ‘Sunflower’) possessing a delightful, fruity taste reminiscent of banana, pineapple, or mango. Large, bean-shaped seeds also occupy much of the interior but are typically smaller and fewer in cultivated varieties. Curious, fleshy, purple flowers precede the fruits in spring, adding to paw paw’s singular charm.

Inside Paw Paws
Paw paws, also called custard apples, have sweet yellowish flesh with a custardy, banana-like flavor.

Of brief shelf life (and thus rarely appearing in markets), paw paw fruits are best eaten fresh off the tree, or incorporated into puddings, pies, preserves, custards, and ice cream. The flesh freezes well, making for a mid-winter, fridge-to-table treat. In addition to their delectable flavor, pawpaws also abound in nutrients including vitamin C, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese, potassium, amino acids, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, and zinc. As with American persimmon, pawpaw is a tree — and fruit — of distinction, that will do your yard and table proud.

Planting Persimmons and Paw Paws

Paw Paws in sunlight
Paw paws grow well in a little less sunlight and have large, bold leaves that tend to turn yellow in fall.

Get your new tree off to a good start by planting it in spring or late summer in a hole that’s the same depth but several times wider than its root ball. Backfill with native soil, and mulch with a good compost, such as Fafard Premium Organic Compost, topped by 2 to 3 inches of leaf mold or bark mulch. American persimmon grows well in most soils, but paw paw requires a relatively moist, humus-rich soil for optimal performance. Bon appetit! (Click here to read more about how to site and plant trees.)

Best Native American Shrubs for Feeding Birds

Service berries are enjoyed by many bird species, such as Baltimore orioles.

The best forage plants for wild birds are appealing natives that provide nutritious fruits, seeds, and nectar. Our top picks offer even more bird food because they attract favorite insect and caterpillar bites. Planting just a few of these shrubs in your yard will supplement bird-feeding efforts and help increase local bird diversity.

Planting to invite wildlife to feed has become more popular because more gardeners see their yards are an extension of the natural world. Natural habitat continues to be destroyed at a rampant pace, leaving fewer places for wild birds to feed. The shrubs on this list will beautify your yard or garden with their fine foliage, flowers, and fruits as well as the added beauty of the colorful, melodious birds they are sure to attract.

Native caterpillars are top-quality native bird food, so choose plants that are important larval host plants. They also mean more butterflies to enjoy! (American bluebird shown)

We recommend the native shrubs listed here in addition to perennials and even annuals. (Click here for a full list of great native larval host plants for the garden.)

Native Shrubs for Birds

Most of the shrubs on this list are native to Eastern North America, though some have limited distribution in the West. All are quite hardy and effortless to grow once established. (Click here for excellent shrub planting and siting instructions.)

The copious red fruits of American cranberrybush are a delight to birds.

American Cranberrybush (Viburnum opulus var. americanum, Zones 2-8, 8-15 feet, full to partial sun) attracts spring pollinators, is an essential larval host plant, and provides delicious red fruits to birds in late fall and early winter. (Birds prefer to eat the berries after they have become frozen and thawed.) Few native shrubs are as beautiful. The domed clusters of white spring flowers feed bees and butterflies and red fall fruits are so cheery. The maple-like summer leaves are fed upon by spring azure (Celestrina ladon) and hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe) caterpillars and turn shades of orange-red in autumn.

Cedar waxwings eat berries and insects, which they can get from the summer fruit of serviceberries and the caterpillars and pollinators they attract.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp., Zones 3-9, 12-20 feet, full to partial sun) species exist across much of North America, and most are well-suited to the home garden. Their white clusters of fragrant spring flowers attract pollinators, the leaves feed caterpillars, and the edible summer fruits are a favorite of birds. Red-spotted purple butterfly (Limenitis arthemis) caterpillars rely on their leaves for food. In fall, the leaves turn glorious shades of yellow, orange, and red.

Baltimore Orioles have diets of insects, fruit, and nectar, all of which they can get from a serviceberry shrub.

Chokecherry shrubs (Aronia arbutifolia, Zones 4-9, 6-10 feet, full to partial sun) are fantastically beautiful. The fragrant white spring flowers attract lots of pollinators, spring azure butterflies feed on the summer foliage, and the copious bright red fall fruits bring lots of birds to the garden. The season ends with a grand display of brilliant red and orange fall leaves. Try the more compact variety ‘Brilliantissima‘ (6-8 feet), which has high fruit production and redder fall leaves.

Red chokecherries can persist into fall and even early winter. (Photo by Abrahami)

American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana, Zones 6-10, 4-8 feet, full to partial sun) can tolerate a little shade but it flowers and sets fruit the best in full sun. Bees and butterflies visit the small lavender or white flowers that line the branches in spring, and by late summer or fall, they turn brilliant purple. Spring azure butterfly and snowberry clearwing moth (Hemaris diffinis) caterpillars feed on the summer leaves. The fruits persist until late fall if they are not snapped up by birds first. Most often the fall leaves turn yellow.

A northern mockingbird feasts on fall beautyberries. (Image by Jessie Keith)

New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus, Zones 4-8, 2-3 feet, full to partial sun) is a compact wildlife wild-food powerhouse! Pollinators visit the white clusters of fragrant summer flowers, including several specialized bee species, and the fatty seeds produced are snacked on by many songbirds. Several butterfly larvae, such as those of mottled duskywing (Erynnis martialis), spring azure, and summer azure butterflies (Celestrina neglecta), rely on its leaves for essential food. The foliage turns russet-yellow hues in fall.

New Jersey tea is very compact and pretty. It’s the perfect intro native shrub for gardeners with little space. (Image by John Oyston)

Spice Bush (Lindera benzoin, Zones 5-9, 8-15 feet, partial sun to partial shade) deserves to be planted more often in home landscapes, especially those with wooded areas. The fragrant leaves of the open shrubs are fed upon by spicebush swallowtail caterpillars (Papilio troilus), and female spice bushes produce nutritious red berries that are important to many wild birds. The fall leaves generally turn yellow.

The fatty fruits of spicebush are eaten by many birds. (Image by Cody Hough, college student and photographer in the Michigan area.)
Spicebush swallowtails rely on spice bushes for larval food, and birds enjoy eating them. Spicebushes also produce fatty fruits that many bird species eat.

The Patriotic Perennial Garden: Planting in Red, White, and Blue

Native perennials in red, white, and blue!

What could be more American than a planting of native perennials that flowers red-white-and-blue in summer? If you have a sunny to lightly shaded garden spot with reasonably decent soil, you could celebrate next Independence Day with your own floral fireworks, courtesy of the following perennials. All are native to eastern North America, and hardy to USDA Zone 5. If your soil is excessively sandy or heavy, be sure to dig in a couple inches of Fafard® Premium Natural & Organic Compost before installing your patriotic planting.

Red Garden Flowers

Bee balm (Monarda didyma hybrids)

‘Jacob Cline’ monarda has big bright red flowers that hummingbirds cannot resist.

Few plants are more all-American than the species and hybrids in the genus Monarda, which is endemic to the New World. The frilly, fragrant flower heads of these tall, often vigorously spreading perennials expand in late spring and early summer, drawing in whatever hummingbirds are in the vicinity. Powdery mildew can be a problem in humid, droughty weather, so look for varieties that have been selected for mildew resistance. These include cultivars in shades of brilliant red (‘Gardenview Scarlet’, ‘Jacob Cline’), rich purple-red (‘Judith’s Fancy Fuchsia’, ‘Raspberry Wine’), violet-purple (‘Purple Rooster’, ‘On Parade’), lavender-purple (Monarda fistulosa ‘Claire Grace’, ‘Dark Ponticum’), and hot pink (‘Coral Reef’). All of the above are in the 3- to 4-foot-tall range. Several recently introduced, lower-growing bee balms are also available, including purple ‘Grand Marshall’ (2 feet tall) and bright pink ‘Grand Parade’ (15 inches).

Winecups (Callirhoe involucrata)

Winecups thrive in summer heat.

Another purely North American genus, Callirhoe encompasses 9 species of sun-loving perennials and annuals, most blessed with showy burgundy-red flowers that continue through much of summer. The trailing habit of Callirhoe involucrata is typical of most winecups. If you’re looking for a sun- and heat-loving perennial that will cover ground, cascade down walls, or weave through neighboring plants, you can hardly do better. Fringed poppy mallow (Callirhoe digitata) is more upstanding in habit, to 2 feet tall; it’s also well worth growing.

White Garden Flowers

American ipecac (Gillenia stipulata)

Gillenia is an easy perennial that deserves to be in every garden.

A long-lived, 3-foot-tall perennial with lacy leaves, starry early summer flowers, brilliant fall color, and a tough, drought-tolerant constitution, the eastern North American native American ipecac (and its close cousin, Gillenia trifoliata) is one of the best garden perennials, period. It takes a couple years to get going, which makes it a hard sell in an era when many gardeners and nurseries want instant results. But if you get a chance to buy one (or more), grab it. You’ll thank yourself for years to come.

Other White-Flowered Native Perennials

White coneflowers are bright and beautiful!

Quite a few other U.S. native perennials sometimes dress in white, even if it’s not their typical flower color. Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) sometimes goes albino, as in cultivars ‘White Swan’ and the dwarf, 20-inch-tall ‘PowWow White’. Their large-coned, many-rayed blossoms debut in early summer and continue for many weeks. False dragonhead (Physostegia virginiana) is another purple all-summer bloomer that often diverges into white forms. Cultivars such as ‘Alba’ and ‘Summer Snow’ have the same general habit as purple forms, bearing their flower spikes on 3-foot tall, rapidly spreading plants. Less rampant forms include ‘Miss Manners’, a 2-foot-tall clump-former, and the 15-inch ‘Crystal Peak White’. Purple-to-white also happens in the genus Phlox. Most border phlox (Phlox paniculata) come into bloom after the Fourth. Several other species and hybrids, however, start flowering in June and continue through summer. Look for ‘Solar Flare’, ‘Daughter of Pearl’, and ‘Aurora’, all bearing white, pink-eyed flowers on 2- to 3-foot, mildew resistant plants in spring and early summer with repeat flushes until frost.

Blue Garden Flowers

Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)

Bees love these fragrant blue flowers.

If you love masses of lavender-blue flowers and bumblebees, you’ll want to work this eastern North American native into your plantings, patriotic and otherwise. The flowers are carried from late spring through much of summer on airy spikes undergirded by clumps of coarse toothed oval leaves. All parts of this large, 3- to 4-foot tall, short-lived perennial waft a pleasant fragrance. A reliable (and sometimes prolific) self-sower, it comes in several forms, including white-flowered and gold-leaved varieties. Dalliances with other species including the East Asian native Agastache rugosa have led to numerous hybrid selections (e.g., ‘Blue Fortune’), most of which offer a somewhat more compact habit.

Tall larkspur (Delphinium exaltatum)

These larkspurs are more delicate their hybridized European cousins.

Common garden delphiniums are European hybrids of Eurasian species that melt in the heat and humidity of eastern North American summers. Tall larkspur, in contrast, hails from the Southeast United States, so it can take just about anything summer throws at it. Don’t expect flowers the size of those of the prima-donna hybrids. Count instead on spikes of purple-blue blooms that are much daintier and less flop-prone, on 4- to 5-foot stalks. They’re right at home in cottage borders, butterfly borders, and other informal settings. Flowering kicks in around the Fourth, yet another reason to celebrate the holiday.

Five Stellar US Native Shrubs for Pollinators and Wildlife

Five Stellar US Native Shrubs for Pollinators and Wildlife Featured Image
These shrubs are tough, beautiful through multiple seasons, and excellent for wildlife.

Some shrubs look beautiful in their natural form. Those on this list are elegantly beautiful in the wild or a garden. They offer aesthetic value and benefit our yard’s ecosystems.

These five shrubs are givers, providing season-long beauty as well as food for multiple pollinators and wildlife at different times of the year. They’ve been selected from personal experience. I’ve observed them in the wild, in gardens, and in landscapes. There are no ornamental or environmental losers in this bunch. Plant them, and your yard will smile.

Five Beautiful Shrubs for Pollinators

1. Serviceberries

Serviceberries in a garden
Serviceberries are stately natives with year-round interest and high wildlife value.

Across North America, there are approximately 20 species serviceberry species (Amelanchier spp.). All are exceptionally beautiful, have high wildlife value, and many are in cultivation. Most grow as shrubs, but some develop into multi-stemmed small trees at maturity. Here are some better species and selections to grow.

Serviceberries spring flowers, edible summer fruits and fall leaves
Fragrant spring flowers, edible summer fruits, and glowing fall color are traits held by most serviceberries.

Saskatoon Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia, 4-15 feet, USDA Hardiness Zones 2-8) is of special interest to bees, birds, and a couple of butterfly species. Its fragrant white spring flowers feed bees and butterflies, birds and mammals enjoy its sweet, edible, blue-black fruits, and it is the larval host to striped hairstreak and California hairstreak butterflies. In fall, the leaves turn brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow, and its smooth, gray bark and pleasing habit stands out in the winter landscape. The variety ‘Regent‘ is compact (4-6 feet) and bears copious flowers and delicious fruit for jam making and baking. 

Canada serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis, 15-30 feet, Zones 3-8) feeds early bees with its bright white clusters of spring flowers. Its reddish summer fruits are tasty and edible. Birds and mammals love them, and they can also be used for baking or jam making. The fall leaves turn shades of orange, red, and yellow.

laevis

2. Lead Plant

Lead plant
Lead plant is tough, loved by native bees, and beautiful.

Native to American prairies, leadplant (Amorpha canescens, 1-3 feet, Zones 2-9) is an attractive, hardy shrub to subshrub in the pea family that sets spikes of purplish pea flowers against silvery-green compound leaves in early to midsummer. The fragrant flowers are highly valuable to native bees. Once established, the plants are quite drought-tolerance and set deep roots–reaching as much as 4-feet down. The denser, green-leaved dwarf false indigo (Amorpha nana, 2-3 feet, Zones 3-9) has reddish-purple summer flower spikes with a strong honey fragrance.

3. Summersweet

'Ruby Spires'
‘Ruby Spires’ is a commonly sold summersweet variety with deep pink flowers. It can reach 6-8 feet.

The ivory flower spikes of summersweet (Clethra alnifolia, 3-8 feet, Zones 4-9) appear in summer and are followed by little brown fruits that are eaten by many birds and mammals. Butterflies can’t get enough of the flowers, including a wide variety of swallowtail species. Bees and hummingbirds also enjoy them. New growth is bronzy, ages to deep green, and then turns shades of orange and yellow in fall.

Though usually ivory-flowered, pink summersweet variants exist in the wild. ‘Ruby Spires’ (6-8 feet) is a commonly sold variety with especially deep pink flowers and golden fall foliage. Some varieties are also more compact for smaller gardens. ‘Compacta’ (3-4 feet) is a uniformly compact, shrubby, white-flowered form that is a bit more upright and compact than the comparable ‘Hummingbird‘, which flops a bit but is just as lovely.

4. Purple-Flowering Raspberry

The pretty flowers of purple-flowered raspberry appear through summer.
The pretty flowers of purple-flowered raspberry appear through summer.

The pink-flowered purple-flowered raspberry (Rubus odoratus, 3-6 feet, Zones 3-8) is probably the prettiest of all the North American raspberries. The eastern North American native inhabits open woods. Large, pink, or pinkish-purple flowers bloom throughout summer above suckering shrubs with pretty maple-shaped leaves. The fragrant flowers are pollinated by bees and butterflies. Edible, but dry and not-so-appealing raspberries ripen through summer and feed birds and wildlife. Plant it along a wooded or shady area where it can spread.

Buttonbush

Natural buttonbush shrubs
Natural buttonbush shrubs are large, cut there are some compact varieties available.

The unique white, celestial-looking flowers of buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis, 8-12 feet, Zones 5-9) are big butterfly attractors. Monarchs, swallowtails, painted ladies, and silver-spotted skippers are all common visitors. Native bees like them, too. Natural shrubs grow quite large and favor moist soils. Full sun encourages the best flowering. Some desirable shorter varieties exist, namely the 4-foot-tall Sugar Shack® from Proven Winners.

Plant for wildlife as well as beauty and reap the rewards. It’s a pleasure to watch pollinators, birds, and other wildlife enjoy your plantings. Adding a good balance of natives will ensure that you are serving regional pollinators well as the honeybees.