These Blue Berries Aren't Blueberries!

The blue berries I'm about to show aren't from any blueberry bush but are from the Arrowwood viburnum!  This viburnum is one of my favorites (but really, I think all viburnums are my favorites).  Viburnum dentatum has white flowers that appear in spring and are a great source of nectar for bees and butterflies.  The glossy green leaves persist until fall when they change color but before that we get these beautiful blue berries.

The birds love the these berries!  It's rare that the berries last more than a week or two as they quickly get gobbled up by the hungry mockingbirds.  This viburnum is a native and provides a valuable food source for wildlife.

I've written about viburnums several times before so I won't go into great detail about them but I will mention that they are fairly easy to propagate either from seed, cuttings or division.  Viburnum dentatum suckers quite a bit and can get large (ours has a 8 foot diameter and stands about 6.5 to 7 feet tall at the moment - its still growing!).  If you want more viburnums without too much trouble dig around the base of the viburnum on a day when the soil is moist and carefully remove a sucker.  That sucker will quickly become a blue berry producing food source for your friendly neighborhood flocks!  

For another viburnum to plant in your garden try a 'Shasta' Doublefile Viburnum!