Sometimes our obsession with flowers overshadows other marvelous attributes of plants. Foliage, bark and berries sometimes provide interest and beauty long after the flowers have faded. September is a great season for berries. As I walk the garden my eyes are drawn to the blue pearls lining the beautyberry branches.  I prefer the blue varieties over the ones with the white berries.  Not quite as perfect but every bit as blue are the arrow wood viburnum berries. This one is on a glossy leafed variety called Chicago Lustre and is right now forming a blue wall for me along a sidewalk.  In addition to blue, there are lots of reds starting to form this time of year. The firethorn, the winterberry and the Blue Princess hollies are starting to display reds that will last well into the winter and will contrast nicely with blankets of snow.  This is especially true of winterberry since it drops it leaves fairly early in the fall and holds it berries for most of the winter.  The purple berries of the pokeweed and the red Kousa dogwood berries are spectacular right now. But it doesn’t take the birds and the squirrels long to figure out how good they taste. As a result, these two don’t quite hold their berries as long as I would like.

So next time you are adding a plant to your yard, consider something with a conspicuous berry. The birds will thank you.

Posted by Bob Rensel

Toward the end of the summer, I always look forward to seeing Goldfinches flock to my Purple Coneflowers. This is one plant that I definitely do not dead-head because it continues to attract such great wildlife even after it goes completely out of bloom. In fact, I don’t cut the seed heads until the following spring because they are attractive even in the winter. Being such a relatively low maintenance perennial, it’s no wonder that Coneflowers are so popular with people (and Goldfinches). There are quite a few varieties to choose from and more being created every year. I like ‘Magnus’, ‘Alba’, ‘Bright Star’ and ‘Sunrise’. I’ve had some trouble growing ‘Sunset’ which is unfortunate because I really like the color. Next spring I plan on getting ‘Green Envy’ or ‘Green Jewel’ just because I like green flowers. I am not a huge fan of the double Coneflowers, ‘Pink Double Delight’ or ‘Coconut Lime’. I wonder if those cultivars attract Goldfinches as well as the single flowering Coneflowers?

Posted by Cynthia Druckenbrod