The Ripening Fruits of August
It seems a melancholy thing that summer is slipping away into fall. I especially regret seeing the daylight hours slowly shortening with each sunset.
On the other hands, there are compensations for us and for the suburban wildlife around us. For people, there are plentiful peaches and tomatoes, cooler temperatures, fewer mosquitos (or at least slower ones that are easier to slap).
For the birds and other wildlife, there is the promise of a great bounty of berries and other fruits. These may not be ripe just yet, but the signs of ripeness are there to be seen. These are the ripening fruits in our garden right now.
Like apples, crabapples have years of alternating light and heavy yield. This is year of heavy yield, and the branches of the ‘Donald Wyman’ crab are weighed down with fruit. They are ripening, not yet ripe, and will be eaten through the fall and into the winter by many birds.
The huge clusters of Elderberries (Sambucus canadensis) are turning from green to black. They are another favorite with many birds. An unruly suckering plant, we keep ours in the corner of the back garden, behind the Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila).
Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum opulus var. americanum) berries are gradually turning bright red. These are eaten by Cedar Waxwings and other birds, especially after a hard frost.
Grey Dogwood (Cornus racemosa) berries, high in calories, are a highly valued fruit for migrating birds. Most are still green, but you can see the first ripe white ones, though they quickly disappear. I was dismayed to see a squirrel gorging on the berries, both green and white, over the weekend. He ignored me when I said they were not for him.
Wild Currant (Ribes americanum) ripens slowly throughout the summer. They are edible for people, but I let the Robins and Cardinals take the lion’s share.
Do you grow fruiting plants for the birds?
I’m sad to that all the flowering is nearing an end. But things still seem to be looking gorgeous on your end.
Some of the summer flowers are still blooming, and the asters, goldenrod and other fall bloomers have yet to start, so there are still some things to look forward to in the garden here.
Jason, I love your post! you told much about different berries and I agree we have to let birds eat vitamins in cold winter. I grow chokeberry bushes and elderberries for birds too. I often watch the waxwings eating berries in winter.
I also have some chokeberry but they are not doing too well. They are still very small.
We have a new crab apple tree we planted last year. It doesn´h have that many apples due to the dry summer maybe? and also several elderberry bushes.
I also get a little sad that the summer is almost over. But at the same time I have lots of plans for rearranging plants and am also looking for new bulbs for spring.
I can see that you are a great bird lover 🙂
I’m also thinking about new plants and bulbs for fall. Regarding your crab, I think fruit trees just need some time to get better established before they start yielding lots of fruit. Also, this could be your crab’s light year for flowers/fruit.
We have a few self-set Mahonia bushes that I’d love to pull out, but the bees love the flowers and the birds have just started harvesting the berries! You have a bird’s 4-star restaurant there! I bet they’re queuing up already! We also have plenty of elder and wild apples in the woods next to us.
I have never seen Mahonia but I have read it is very popular with birds. We don’t have elderberries growing wild in our suburban town, but there are lots of mullberries growing along alleys – they are considered a trash tree but the birds do love the fruits.
I’m a great fan of shrubs and trees for autumn and winter interest. Have a beautiful Malus Butterball in my Swiss garden, then Amelanchier (delicious and I try to get some for myself), species roses, Euonymus, Callicarpa, Symphoricarpos, Sorbus vilmorinii (well, all Sorbus really)…there’s such a choice – all we lack in is the space to grow them all 😉
Yes, I would like to have more space for wild hazelnut, chokecherry, Calicarpa, birch, hornwood …
Hey Jason,
Great post, my learned friend. Berries and crabapples are some of the big reasons autumn is my favorite season. Back home we had an autumn but it was mild compared to here and only thing I recall is berries on nandina.
I do like fall, but I hate losing summer.
OH my, BERRIES! 😀 Great photos, I wish I have a huge garden to plant them, I love making cheesecakes with berries, but it seems here in Greece, berries are not so popular, I mean in the part I am living… anyway love your post!
I thought berries would be popular everywhere, but I am not familiar with Greece. What do the birds like to eat there?
You’re being quite kind and generous to your feathered friends by providing them so many tasty treats.
We have a few shrubs designated solely for the birds, mostly black currants (Ben Sarek) that were deemed not tasty enough for human consumption. That’s generally how I operate, if something turns out to not be tasty enough for people, it is left un-netted and the birds get it. As such the birds seem to generally root for me to fail in my plant choices or make hasty decisions so that they end up with the spoils.
Strangely I have some raspberries that the birds don’t touch, even though they are not netted.
I have — pear, dogwood, pokeweed, grapes, strawberries, longonberries, beach plum, raspberry/blackberry and chokerberry — most goes to the birds and squirrels and ants only — we hardly get to eat anything 🙂
I would love to have grapes and beach plum. I don’t mind the birds eating the fruit, that’s what farmers’ markets are for.
It is lovely to see the fruit and berries maturing, winter food for the birds as you say, but, oh so sad to see summer slipping away a few minutes every day.xxxx
I suppose we aren’t losing a summer, we are gaining a fall.
This time of year makes me sad too, when the days are obviously shortening. For a while I could stay outside long after 9, but now it’s pitch black by then.
I do like fall, but I hate losing summer.
Yummy!
That’s the idea.
When I design gardens, I always include berry producers to aid the birds. What I find is that unless a full hedge row of them are planted, the specimen plants are stripped clean in Fall. In my own garden, the Viburnum and crabapple do not make it to winter. The pear does though. But this is not a problem either, because many birds that migrate fatten up at this time of year and need all the nourishment they can find. So any garden benefits from adding plants like you mentioned.
I agree, obviously, but I never thought of pear as a plant for birds – isn’t the fruit too large?
Ornamental pear. It has sterile fruit and I have pictured blue jays eating it, but other birds do as well.
Is that the same as Bradford pear?
On Wed, Aug 14, 2013 at 2:53 PM, gardeninacity
Look at all of those beautiful berries!!! So gorgeous in their simplicity! You just inspired me to make a painting based on berries! They make me so happy when I see them! I enjoy the little purple berries on my beauty berry. Have a great week Jason! I
You too, Nicole. Berries are beautiful, aren’t they?
Hi Jason, I’m also noticing the shorter days and cooler nights I can almost sense the garden gradually slowing down and beginning the slide into Autumn, however, before that, we’re having a spectacular display of stargazer lilies and echinacea, the roses may also try a few flowers too. The lavender is still going strong too.
I envy your stargazer lilies. Even though summer is fading, we still have about another eight weeks of various blooms. I just hate to see the days get shorter.
Your crabapples mention reminds me of my garden mentor, who died over a decade ago well into her nineties.She always had beautiful Crabapples and shared lots of delicious jelly. I image the birds got a share also. The Cranberrybush Viburnum is attractive. Enjoy these final days of summer. Susie
My mother also made crabapple jelly, so it is a sentimental favorite of mine. You enjoy the remains of the season as well, Susie.
The woods, meadows and riverbanks are so full of fruit that I don’t have to grow any for the birds.
Ah, that is an advantage of living in the country.
There’s still plenty of summer left . . . I am in denial! I used to feel kind of sad as summer drew to a close, but as I get older, I just go with the flow. I actually kind of enjoy the gardening break over the winter.
We have lots of bird berries here – some of the same ones you have. This year I’m harvesting some of the elderberries, simmering them with some echinacea leaves, cinnamon sticks, and local honey – making elderberry syrup for winter colds. It tastes really good so we’ll see if it lasts until winter!
SO TRUE! the melancholy demise of summer. How wonderful you highlight the positive side of the end of summer.
Autumn would be my favorite season if it were followed immediately by spring without that pesky season in between!
We have lots of red-flowering currant berries, but the birds seem to avoid them until the last minute. I think they must be one of those foods they leave until there’s nothing better to munch on! The snow-berries are already coming on and the salal has been fruiting for awhile. Does setting out unshelled peanuts for the Stellar Jays count?
I’m thinking I should feel guilty here. We raise raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, and we eat them all ourselves. 🙂
It is amazing to see all the bounty you have for birds. Mine is still scarce as we our fruit bearing bushes and trees are still small, but the berries do not last long….I even let the birds have the blue and blackberries as they are small bushes.
I planted two more crabapples last winter…can’t wait for fruit. The bird population will love it! I think Viburnums are the best shrubs.
In addition to the V. trilobum, I have Black Haw Viburnum. It’s growing OK, some flowers but very little fruit. Tried to grow Maple Leaf Viburnum but it died on me.