Plant Berry Producing Shrubs & Trees

We consider traditional symbols of the winter holiday season to include red holly berries and sprigs of mistletoe (with their white berries), but to many birds and mammals, these represent succulent seasonal snacks. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time of year to take stock of the berry-producing shrubs and trees in your yard and to resolve to increase their number and variety in the New Year.

Consider planting cherry-laurel and yaupon or dahoon holly trees, shrubs such as American beautyberry, elderberry, pokeweed and wax myrtle, and blackberry, grape, green brier and Virginia creeper vines. A variety of these fruity offerings, and others listed in our Native Plants for Backyard Florida Habitats from Planting a Refuge for Wildlife, will be appreciated by berry-loving species around the state.