Fruit & Berry Plants

Winterberry

• Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) fruit to brightens up your fall and winter landscape, but only if you plant female plants. Only the females of this plant, native to much of the eastern U.S., produce the vibrant red berries that last through winter and give this shrub its ornamental appeal. Winterberry grows to from 10 to 12 feet tall, blooming in early summer and turning out its berries no later than the first weeks of autumn. Winterberry is a suitable choice for damp, low areas, notes the Missouri Botanical Garden. Use it as a foundation plant, hedge or to highlight pond shorelines.

Pawpaw Tree

• The pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba) grows from the southern Great Lakes through the Deep South, hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. Growing no higher than 20 feet and often no bigger than a shrub, the pawpaw tree will bloom in early May. The oblong fruit, ripe and dark brown by the beginning of fall, tastes like a banana, according to the University of Connecticut Plant Database. The elongated, dark green foliage turns yellow in autumn. Pawpaws need to be in full sun and the species thrives in damp, acidic areas. You can use pawpaws as a street tree, or plant them in the naturalized areas of your land.

Mayapple

• Although you can eat the fruit of the Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), avoid ingesting the leaves and refrain from doing anything with the roots; both are poisonous. The mayapple is a wildflower of fertile woodlands of the Eastern states, and can grow to 18 inches. In the wild, this species will develop large colonies of plants. The mayapple features foot-wide leaves and a showy flower that resembles those of apple trees, hence the name. The resulting fruit is greenish, but ripens to lemon yellow, notes the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region." You can eat the fruit fresh or use it to create juices and jellies. Mayapple works as part of your woodland garden, but remember that the leaves will wither away by the middle of summer as the plant goes dormant.

Highbush Blueberry

• Those wet areas of your property can be an appropriate setting in which to plant highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum). This deciduous shrub, growing to 12 feet, does best in damp, very acidic soil, like that found near swamps and waterways. Highbush blueberry is a native to many eastern U.S. states. In addition to the fruit, which ripens no later than August, the plant features vivid foliage colors in autumn. Highbush blueberry will attract all sorts of wildlife to your property, with a full sun location yielding more fruit than a shady one. Some of the numerous cultivars of this plant include Patriot, Rubel and Jersey.