Flowering Shrubs for the Landscape and the Birds
Grow viburnums for their beautiful blooms, and you’ll soon be loving them for their eye-catching berries. Viburnum shrubs produce berries in a variety of colors, including neon pink, lemon yellow, robin egg blue and deep purple-black. The viburnum berries typically shift through a sequence of colors as they ripen, which creates a changing scene in the garden. Some viburnums have berry clusters that showcase several hues at once.
Almost all viburnums produce attractive clusters of drupe-type fruits which are popular with birds, wildlife, and humans. However, most Viburnums are not self-pollinating and will require another variety to cross-pollinate with and yield fruit.
Three of the most common native viburnums produce edible berries: arrowwood, cranberrybush, and blackhaw.
The cranberry bush viburnums are well known for producing fruits that are edible and attractive to birds. American cranberrybush is Viburnum trilobum, a name that's been recently changed to Viburnum opulus 'Americanum.' It produces flattened flower clusters that yield edible red berries.
Generally, viburnum berries are not known to be toxic, although they don't necessarily taste very good. Guelder-rose (Viburnum opulus) was introduced as a cultivated ornamental and can grow across southern Canada. Occasionally, the shrub may become naturalized. The fears of serious poisoning reported in older literature seem unfounded. Humans who ingest the berries may experience mild symptoms.
American cranberry bush viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) is a beautiful flowering shrub that has white springtime flowers, maple-shaped leaves that turn bright colors in autumn, and red fall berries. Brown thrashers, cedar waxwings, and other birds feast on the long-lasting fruits, which can provide a source of food even in winter.
Other varieties for birds are Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) and Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum (Viburnum rufidulum). These two species produce abundant fruit that birds love. Other garden-worthy forms are Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum ‘Blue Muffin’) and Leatherleaf Viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophyllum ‘Allegheny’).