A genus of tall, deciduous, rhizomatous, shrubs. Bluish berries are produced on mature plants on productive sites. An Edible jelly can be made the berries. The berries are used today in pies and preserves.

Serviceberry refers to the tradition of holding memorial services for those who died in the winter; in Appalachia, these services were held when the serviceberries flowered. People who died in winter often could not be buried because the ground was frozen, and it was difficult for people in isolated hollows to travel to funerals. It was common for services to be delayed until the ground thawed and people could travel. This coincided with the flowering of the serviceberries, a signal that it was time for memorial services to be held.

Crabapples are deciduous, small trees or shrubs with imbricate (scaly) buds. Leaves are toothed or lobed. Flowers are perfect and showy. Fruit is the classic example of a pome and is usually conspicuous. Many species and cultivars are planted as small, ornamental trees with attractive flowers and fruits. Flowers pleasantly scent the May landscape. Fruit is greenish and ripens in September.

These small, deciduous trees have rather large, scaly buds. Pinnately compound leaves are borne alternately along the stems. Flowers are showy, perfect, and borne in flat-topped corymbs. Fruit is a red pome and borne in showy clusters.

Large-flowered cotoneaster is one of the few cotoneasters useful for its flowers. It is not often grown, possibly because it is susceptible to fire blight. Large- flowered cotoneaster needs sun to partial shade and any good garden soil. It has a height and spread of about 8 feet and produces white flowers in mid-May. The red fruit and the yellow fall color occur together. The growth habit is normally graceful and drooping.

Butterfly bush is a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub with a weeping form. The tiny flowers are irresistible to butterflies. They are borne in long, 8-18 in, cone-shaped clusters that droop in a profusion of color and stay abuzz with winged, nectar-feeding insects from late spring until first frost in autumn. The flower clusters can be so profuse that they cause the branches to arch even more. The flowers of many cultivars are sweetly fragrant. Buddleia davidii tolerates urban pollution and alkaline soil.

Butterfly bush is the perfect foundation plant for a butterfly garden. Plant alongside pentas (Pentas lanceolata), lantana (Lantana camara) and zinnias Zinnia elegans) for non-stop butterfly activity, and find a place nearby for parsley (Petroselinum crispum), passion vine (Passiflora incarnata) and other butterfly larval food plants.

Don’t think it is native

Height x width: 30-36" x 36", more dense and compact than other cultivars. Growth rate: moderate. Foliage: opposite leaves to 3.5" long, undersides gray-white, narrow, usually entire margins; this cultivar with wider leaves than species, dark green, satin appearing surface . Flowers: up to 20 in a tight cluster (cyme), cymes in the upper leaf axils; more buds than most cultivars and species, and earlier bloom; dark ink-blue buds opening to dark purple-blue flowers; late summer, early fall. Hardiness: USDA zone 5, marginal in protected parts of zone 4, to zone 9 in south. Soil: well-drained. Light: full sun. Pests and problems: few if any, none serious. Landscape habit, uses: specimen, mixed borders, massed; good for late summer and nice contrast to usual daisy type flowers of oranges and yellows, or complement to similar colors in fall asters; striking contrast with cultivar 'Worcester Gold' with yellow-gold foliage

DESCRIPTION: This group consists of about six hardy, small, deciduous shrubs that are natives to China, Mongolia and Japan. Bluebeards, as they are commonly known, are valued for their fragrant foliage and because they bloom in late summer and autumn, the time of year that few shrubs are flowering. Their foliage is a grayish color and they produce different shades of blue flowers among the varieties. C. incana has small leaves and violet-blue flowers in late summer and fall. This shrub is a spreading plant that can grow 4-6 feet high. When bruised, the leaves emit a scent resembling mint. C. mongholica has narrow leaves and it produces larger and brighter blue flowers than C. incana. C. clandonensis is a hybrid between C. incana and C. mongholica. The lavender-blue flowers are produced abundantly in late summer. This shrub will grow up to3 feet high.

Lonicera sempervirens

Coral honeysuckle is a twining or trailing woody vine that is evergreen or tardily deciduous in mild climates. The smooth leaves are 1-3 in (2.5-7.6 cm) long and arranged opposite each other along the stem. The last two leaves at the ends of new growth are joined at their bases, cup-like around the stem and the showy flowers are in terminal clusters just beyond. The flowers are tube shaped, about 2 in (5.1 cm) long, coral red or bright orange on the outside and yellow on the inside. The fruits are orange red berries, about 0.25 in (0.6 cm) diameter.
Coral honeysuckle thrives in containers or in the garden. It is easy to grow, and its flashy flowers will attract ruby-throated hummingbirds and butterflies all summer long. Let it clamber over a fence or give it a trellis of its own. Many gardeners allow coral honeysuckle to climb over shrubs. Unlike its weedy relative, Japanese honeysuckle (L. japonica), coral honeysuckle will not spread out of control, and its sparse vines won't strangle your prize shrubs.

Common morning-glory is an annual deciduous vine with alternating heart-shaped leaves and large, purple flowers that may show streaks of white and pink.  The two inch flowers, which open in the morning and only last a few hours, are prominent from July to September.  The vine, which is covered with fine hairs, may grow between ten and sixteen feet in height by twining around other structures.

How to Grow it: One of the easiest seeds in the world to grow, however it may take some time. Plant where vine has something to climb on--a post, mailbox, fence, or just taller plants nearby. Simply press seed into any bare soil, keep watered, and bloom will begin in mid-season.

Leaf: Opposite, simple, finely serrated, ovate to elliptical, long pointed tip, 2 1/2 to 4 inches long, shiny dark green above, paler with tiny black dots beneath, petiole reddish, winged and wavy.

Fruit: Dark blue, oval drupes, up to 1/2 inch long, occurring in hanging clusters from red stems, ripen in fall.

Form: A large shrub or small tree reaching up to 20 feet tall, with an open crown and arching branches.

Nannyberry is a large, upright, multi-stemmed, suckering, deciduous shrub which typically grows to 10-18' tall with a spread of 6-12', but may also be grown as a small, single trunk tree which may reach a height of 30'. Non-fragrant white flowers in flat-topped cymes (to 4.5" diameter) appear in spring. Flowers give way in autumn to blue-black, berry-like drupes which often persist into winter and are quite attractive to birds and wildlife. Ovate, finely toothed, glossy dark green leaves (to 4" long) are abruptly long-pointed. Variable fall color ranges from drab greenish-yellow to reddish-purple. Although widespread in eastern North America, this plant is only known to exist in Missouri in low woods and wooded slopes in Schuyler County. Fruits are edible and may be eaten off the bush when ripe or used in jams and jellies. Nanny goats apparently feed on the ripe berries (reportedly more so than billy goats), hence the common name.

Leaf: Opposite, simple, oval to elliptical, coarsely serrated margins, 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 inches long, shiny dark green above, paler below. Flower: Small, white in flat topped clusters, 2 to 4 inches across, yellow stamens, appearing in late spring. Fruit: Bluish black, oval drupes, 1/3 inch long, occurring in clusters, ripening in early fall. Twig: Slender, ridged and angled, glabrous or slightly velvety, buds 1/4 inch, green to brown, several scales present. Bark: Gray to grayish brown, smooth getting finely scaly with size. Form: Many branching shrubs to 10 feet, arching branches forming an overall rounded crown.

Arrowwood viburnum is an upright, rounded, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub which typically matures to 6-10' tall with a similar spread, but may reach a height of 15' in optimum growing conditions. Non-fragrant white flowers in flat-topped corymbs (to 4" diameter) appear in late spring. Flowers give way to blue-black, berry-like drupes which are quite attractive to birds and wildlife. Ovate, toothed, glossy dark green leaves (to 4" long). Variable fall color ranges from drab yellow to attractive shades of orange and red. Although widespread in eastern North America, this native plant is only known to exist in the wild in Missouri on wooded slopes along the Salt River in Shelby County. Native Americans reportedly used the straight stems of this shrub for arrow shafts, hence the common name.

Comments: Native; attracts birds; male and female plants; tenders to spread by suckers; best fruit production in full sun

Ilex verticillata is a deciduous shrub native to eastern North America that reaches a maximum height of about 9 feet. From late fall through winter, Ilex verticillata steps up into the garden’s spot light by producing an outstanding display of, for most cultivars, bright red berries which persist on the branches even after the leaves have fallen. The variations between the cultivars are mainly seen as differences in the quantity, size, and color of their fruit. It is notable that this species is monoecious (plants are either male or female), so berries are only produced on female plants. When planting female selections, it is necessary to have a male plant in the same vicinity in order to ensure pollination.

The woody species in the genus Cornus can be recognized by the simple, opposite, unlobed, entire leaves and the "arcuate" venation in which the veins curve toward the tip of the leaf as they branch outward from the midrib of each leaf, becoming nearly parallel to the margin as they near it. Cornus alternifolia is the only species of Cornus in Wisconsin that has alternate leaves and it is also the only naturally occurring species of Cornus that has the growth form of a tree--all the others (4) being clearly shrubs. The leaves are strongly clustered toward the ends of the branches. The numerous small, white, 4-petaled flowers in flat-topped inflorescences open in May or June and are similar to the other Cornus species. The berry-like fruits turn blue when ripe, toward the end of the summer.

The growth form is very distinctive because the nearly horizontal branches, although alternate, tend to develop in groups of 3-5 very close together, followed by a relatively long section of trunk with no branches, followed by another aggregation of branches. The result is a conspicuous "layered" look that can be seen in the photo of the tree above.

Clusters of greenish white flowers in late summer; fragrant; purplish black berries on red stems

Flower/Fruit: White flowers in spring; bright red berries persist through winter

Washington Hawthorn is a four-season ornamental tree, becoming an accent tree in early Winter with its persistent red fruits

prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun, but is tolerant of poor soils, various soil pHs, compacted soils, drought, heat, and Winter salt spray