Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees. Charlotte Adelman

      American black elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) Also see p. 267

      ELDERBERRY. Family: Elderberry (Adoxaceae). Genus: Sambucus; AMERICAN BLACK ELDERBERRY (Sambucus nigra L. subsp. canadensis). Height/Spread: 8–15 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Showy, flat, white long-blooming flower heads in June and July; showy, glistening clusters of edible dark purple fruits held on magenta pedicels in August to September; yellow fall leaves. The flowers have “a pure sweet scent. . . . We like the contrast of lacy flower heads against tropical green foliage . . . in most gardens of fragrance,” wrote Wilson and Bell.²² Cultivation: Adaptable, low maintenance, easy-to-grow shrub. Full sun best; takes shade. Best in moderately moist, well-drained soils; tolerates dry conditions. Suckers create thickets. To encourage vigorous regrowth, cut to the ground in March. Food Note: Quintessential American plant produces fruits and flowers used for centuries to make wine, jam, jelly, preserves, pies, and juice. Nature Note: Little carpenter and mason bees hollow out stems, creating nesting material and locations. They cause little damage and create future pollinators. Shrub may be used for conservation biological control. Fruits are rich in carbohydrates and protein and provide important food for migrating birds. Provides cover, nesting sites, and habitat for local and migrating birds and other wildlife. Supports bees, butterflies, and other pollinators; pollen is a honeybee favorite. Eastern chipmunk (p. 94), red squirrel, Franklin’s ground squirrel, woodchuck, foxes, and rabbits and more than 120 species of birds seek the mid- to late summer fruits, including red-bellied woodpecker (p. 55), red-headed woodpecker (p. 212), pileated woodpecker, American crow (p. 244), scarlet tanager, gray catbird (p. 79), red-breasted nuthatch (p. 322), white-breasted nuthatch, American robin (p. 62), golden and ruby-crowned kinglets (p. 233), eastern bluebird (p. 61), wood thrush (p. 175), cedar waxwing (p. 36), brown thrasher (p. 219), red-eyed vireo (p. 112), and northern cardinal (p. 61). “Common Elderberry is an attractive shrub, but often ignored because of its ubiquitous occurrence. In fact, people often destroy this shrub along fences or waterways in residential areas, notwithstanding its outstanding value to wildlife, particularly to songbirds,” writes John Hilty.²³ Zones: 3–8; RED ELDERBERRY, SCARLET ELDER (S. racemosa). Height/Spread: 10–12 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Common to the more northerly regions of the Midwest, cones of soft white flowers resemble white lilac flowers. Eye-popping, slightly toxic red summer berries; yellow fall leaves. Stems, bark, leaves, and roots contain cyanide-producing toxins, so most mammalian herbivores avoid the shrub. Cultivation: Full sun best, moderately moist soil. Can grow almost anywhere. Note: Threatened in Illinois. Zones: 4–6; Elderberry Note: Tolerate black walnut tree toxicity. Elderberry Host Plant Note: Native elderberries host 42 species of Lepidoptera (butterflies/moths), including Henry’s elfin (p. 93). Birds eat and feed the caterpillars to their nestlings.

      White-breasted nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

       More Native Alternatives:

      CHOKEBERRY SPP., p. 13; CURRANT SPP., p. 35; NINEBARK, p. 44.

      See Spring Trees for AMERICAN PLUM and other native plums, p. 78; AMERICAN SNOWBELL, p. 116; CHERRY SPP., p. 82; SERVICEBERRY SPP., pp. 20, 77.

       Nonnative:

      FLOWERING QUINCE. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Chaenomeles; COMMON FLOWERING QUINCE (C. speciosa). Origin: China; JAPANESE FLOWERING QUINCE (C. japonica). Origin: Japan. Height/Spread: 6–10 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Spiny, stubby shrubs; red, sometimes white or pink flowers in March to April bloom for a short time. No fall color. “Not pretty except in bloom, this ungainly, deciduous shrub brings little to most home landscapes,” writes Penelope O’Sullivan.²⁴ Cultivation: Full sun best, moist well-drained soil, naturalizes. Ecological Threat: Naturalized in midwestern states. Zones: 5–8.

      Japanese flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica)

      Red buckeye (Aesculus pavia var. pavia)

       Native Alternatives:

RED BUCKEYE. Family: Soapberry (Sapindaceae). Genus: Aesculus (A. pavia var. pavia). Large shrub/small tree. “Though buckeyes are the smaller, shrub members of the horse chestnut (Aesculus) genus, they are rather massive when compared with other shrubs,” writes Penelope O’Sullivan, and “wonderfully pest free.”²⁵ Height/Spread: 6–15 feet; can grow taller. Ornamental

---

Скачать книгу