[PHOTO CREDIT: CWF]
Around this time our Wildlife-Friendly Demonstration Garden is coloured with ripening fruit. Our deep blue-purple pagoda dogwood berries have already been devoured by waxwings and other birds, but more fruit is on the way. We have reddening rosehips and highbush cranberry berries, green berries on our grey dogwoods which will become white in a few weeks, plus the dark blue berries of nannyberries and these Viburnum dentatum fruit. Some berries are gone by late summer, while others are eaten up by mid autumn. A few others, like winterberry fruit, are often hanging around in the winter to provide nourishment to wildlife in the cold months.
If you have space in your garden, consider planting a shrub native to your area. You will enjoy its flowers and fruit as well as colourful fall foliage. As a bonus, you’ll have the pleasure of seeing your neighbouring pollinators and birds visit for a snack during the year! Click here to learn more about food sources you can naturally provide on your property.
Sarah Coulber
Sarah is an Education Specialist at the Canadian Wildlife Federation. She writes about the benefits and ‘how-to’s’ of wildlife-friendly gardening, coordinates content for the Gardening for Wildlife web section, co-manages the wildlife-friendly demonstration gardens at CWF headquarters and assists Canadians looking to achieve similar results with their own properties.
