Success Story

When we planted a serviceberry in our backyard, we had two goals in mind: providing a natural food source for birds; and an additional object for me to photograph. We succeeded on both counts. They are, of course, related. The serviceberry has an incredibly large amount of red berries, which the birds devour. There is a bully among them, however. A robin loves them so much that he chases everyone away when he's eating them. The berries are irresistible to cedar waxwings, cardinals, and house finches. We tasted them and liked them too. Some people make marmalade out of them, but I think you need more than one shrub to have a decent yield. Of course, if we made marmalade I wouldn't have been able to take this photo. So for now, we are happy to provide food for wildlife.

Plant it and They Will Come

The serviceberry has quite a few desirable features: a beautiful - if not very brief - spring bloom; red berries that are a favorite source of food for many birds; and a russet colored fall foliage. It is also called Juneberry for good reason. Its berries are ripening already, and it isn't even June yet. Cedar waxwings are checking out the berries for ripeness several times a day and we have even spotted robins and cardinals tasting them. It seems as if we hit the spot by planting a serviceberry. That's what happens when you plant native plants instead of aliens.