Autumn can seem such a benevolent season. Everywhere it seems plants are displaying their wares and saying, 'Eat me, eat me', and none more so that berry-bearing bushes.
What I'm interested to know is what is eating which berries in your garden? Have the birds started on the cotoneasters or pyracanthas yet? Have all your rowan berries gone? Have you got an unusual berry-bearing plant that the birds love and we all ought to know about?
I'm going to throw in a suggestion that is a bit left-field but which is a wonderful plant for those in sheltered coastal locations if you like your gardening to feel a bit tropical. It is Cordyline australis, which is a much nicer name than the English version which is New Zealand Cabbage Palm.
For most of the year, the foliage is pretty useless as a perching or nesting place for birds, but in autumn the sprays of white berries are feasted on by Starlings and - in a photo from my jaunt down to the south-west last week - Song Thrushes (right).
Cordyline australis has another wildlife benefit - Honeybees and bumblebees love the copious flowers in spring. It all goes to show that you don't need to write off every non-native as being rubbish for wildlife - far from it.
All my berry bearing plants are still intact and won’t be touched until the birds have eaten every last grape on the vines. They prefer green grapes and will strip this vine before moving onto the black grapes, only when both vines are bare will they eat the Rowan berries, Cotoneasters, Pyracanthas, Guilder Rose etc.
The Blue Tits and Sparrows love the seed heads of New Zealand Flax, I’m not sure if they are after the seeds or if there are insects living in the seed pods.
Hi Wildlife Friendly
Really interesting observation about how popular your vines are, especially that the greens go before the blacks. Are there any birds in particular that favour them? And I'll be interested to hear when the birds move onto your other berries. One thing I have yet to finally pin down is exactly which cotoneaster and pyracantha species and cultivars appear to work best, so I hope you'll be able to fill us in on which types are eaten by what and when.
Sorry for the delay in replying Adrian, I’m a bit of a blogging novice and wasn’t expecting a follow up to my comment.
It’s the blackbirds who strip the vines, they have already finished the whites and have moved on to the blacks.
I’ll keep my eye on the other berries to see what is eating them.
Last week I trimmed some of my hedges, there were a lot of Guilder Rose and Elder berries which I gathered up and put on the stone where I feed the Blackbirds and Thrushes. Every morning they all arrive and clear the sultanas and raisons but have yet to touch any of the berries (I think I just feed my birds too well).
The Blackbirds have now finished both white and black grapes and have moved on to the Lycesteria Formosa (Pheasants berry). The Rowans have been stripped of their berries, I think this was by the thrushes but I’m not completely sure, the holly berries are slowly disappearing too but I haven’t caught sight of the dinner yet.