I didn't know I had any wild blackberries until I spotted these while I was out for a walk today. The fruits are smaller than they appear!

yumm

I grow blackberries here in my yard. The garden kind. But that doesn't mean the critters don't enjoy them. I have often seen squirrels in the blackberry patch munching on the berries. And the birds enjoy eating some as well. Especially the Catbirds.

June,
Looks like you have a great variety of food for wildlife.

your above photo looks like black raspberries not blackberries.
There is a difference but the wildlife don't care.

Cinda, my Ontario wild plants reference book doesn't list any black raspberries. It lists 3 kinds of raspberry, but they're all red-fruited, not black. It lists 2 blackberries, both with purplish-brown canes like my plant has, and it says Smooth Blackberry has rounded to thimble-shaped fruit. If my plant isn't Smooth Blackberry (Rubus canadensis), could it be a blackberry-raspberry hybrid?

Rita, do you get to eat any of your blackberries, or do the birds and the squirrels take all of them? My father used to grow many kinds of fruit - blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants - and he would construct cages of netting to protect them from birds. My mother would make so many pies and jars of jam, it's a wonder to me now. My fruit-growing effort this year consists of two ever-bearing strawberry plants in a container on my front deck, and chipmunks have eaten most of the berries so far.

There are plenty for everyone. Yes, the critters do take a share but I eat plenty myself also. Same with the blueberries. The birds eat them but I get plenty. I don't net any of the fruits around here.

JuneOntario said:Cinda, my Ontario wild plants reference book doesn't list any black raspberries. It lists 3 kinds of raspberry, but they're all red-fruited, not black. It lists 2 blackberries, both with purplish-brown canes like my plant has, and it says Smooth Blackberry has rounded to thimble-shaped fruit. If my plant isn't Smooth Blackberry (Rubus canadensis), could it be a blackberry-raspberry hybrid?

It appears to be Black Raspberry (Rubus occidentalis). which does apparently occur in Ontario:

http://plants.usda.gov/core/pr...

It's certainly common in New York and Michigan, for whatever that's worth.

I had a different kind of wild cucumber vine, but it didn't tolerate the drought very well, so it's gone. I have elderberry, but no berries...I think it needs cross-pollination from a different kind of elderberry in the area to produce. But the flowers are really nice! I have pokeweed berries and chile petins for the wildlife (mainly the birds) to eat. And Texas Persimmon and black walnuts...something eats them. Acorns from the oak trees are always a wildlife staple also.

Hi Linda! What a great assortment of wildlife food you have there! I had pokeweed in my previous garden in PA, but haven't seen it here. A neighbor had walnut trees, and the squirrels used to love them (and they buried the nuts all over my garden). I don't know chile petins or Texas persimmon, though. Do you have any pics?

Re. the black raspberry versus blackberry debate, I went back for another look at the plant today. It must be tasty, because the fruits have all been eaten! Pics of the black raspberry that I looked at on the Internet showed leaves with white undersides, borne on very white stems or canes. My plant does have white undersides to the leaves, but the cane has no white on it. It's a bronzy purple from end to end. The cane feels round, not ridged, has a few hooked thorns, and the bark or skin feels smooth, not bristly. I'm stumped!

Today's fruit is a dogwood. I don't know which species - please feel free to name it! It's a small tree growing deep in the woods and overhanging a small stream. Luckily, there's a bridge over the stream right where it's growing, or I would have gotten my feet wet taking the pic.

June, Chile Petin is a wild-type bush with very small, hot peppers.

And Texas Persimmon is a small native tree that has small fruits that ripen in fall...very popular with wildlife once they get ripe.

I have some Roughleaf Dogwood, but for some reason, the berries either fail to develop or are removed before they get ripe. Today I checked one and found only one small berry on it. I've also got a good sized Mexican Plum tree, but I think it needs another one for cross-pollination. I get almost no fruits on it. Very frustrating!

Great pics, Linda!

Silky dogwood berries starting to turn from green to blue. Looks like a very good crop of berries set this year. We will see how long it takes the Catbirds to eat them!



Viburnum Cardinal Candy. Not ripe yet.

Both these grow in my shrub row that I have along the southside of my property line. It screens my neighbors driveway and makes a perfect habitat for the backyard birds.

Cool! Food coming up for the birds!

Hi Rita! If you have blue and red berries, all you need is white to make a flag! Symphoricarpos albus, maybe? My Snowberry is flowering at the moment (it has tiny pink flowers), but here's a pic of last September's berry crop. I'm envious of your Viburnum 'Cardinal Candy' as the two small bushes of it that I planted failed to survive their first winter.

June, I never thought of white berries. Red and blue are easy, white not so much.

Those Silky Dogwoods of mine have never had so many berries as they do this year. Mostly way up top on the shrubs. Were I can't reach them, even with a ladder.

I have had my Cardinal Candy Viburnums for years and years and years. Planted them as small shrubs but they are massive now.

And look. There are more berries on my Silky Dogwood turning from Green to Blue. The Catbirds will eat them as soon as they get ripe.

Rita, I expect you'll see some overweight catbirds unable to get off the ground if they eat all those berries!

Which reminds me of the time the robins ate fermented rowan berries and got drunk. There were robins hanging upside-down on the rowan tree, and the ones on the ground kept falling over.

JuneOntario said:
Which reminds me of the time the robins ate fermented rowan berries and got drunk. There were robins hanging upside-down on the rowan tree, and the ones on the ground kept falling over.

Poor robins were probably wondering why it was suddenly so difficult to fly!

JuneOntario said:Rita, I expect you'll see some overweight catbirds unable to get off the ground if they eat all those berries!

They might have to share with the mockingbird and the robins.

Here's something for the ruffed grouse to eat. White baneberry, also known as doll's-eyes, growing in a small clearing deep in the woods.