I love viburnums. You say you want native ones, but shasta and burkwood are not native, btw. Here are some native ones to consider (please research them for your area, see the link to the USDA Plants Database page for Viburnum, distribution maps are there - the ones with blue shading are native, the ones with grey shading are not):

V. acerifolium - can handle more shade than others
V. trilobum - the one known as cranberry viburnum, considered a close relative of V. opulus (European)
V. lantanoides
V. obovatum - small leaves
V. nudum - can tolerate wet areas, shiny handsome leaves, cultivars available
V. cassinoides - now considered a subspecies of V. nudum
V. lentago
V. prunifolium - can resemble a small tree
V. rufidulum - also a small tree at maturity
V. dentatum - cultivars available
V. recognitum
V. rafinesquianum
V. molle
V. bracteatum
V. edule

I would highly recommend that you look into Michael Dirr's book "Viburnums"; wonderful pictures and details about all of them (including the non-natives, oh well).

There are some good old threads on the Shrubs forum (start with the one Viburnum Dentatum and friends) with discussions about cross pollination.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA

Oh shoot...I thought all Viburnums were native!

Interestingly enough, I bought them from the "Native" display at my Garden Center. I am looking at the tag for the Burkwood and it says, proudly "American Beauties -Native Plants". Why would they market this as a native?

I just looked online, and read that it is from Asia. I am really disappointed. *sigh so close and yet so far.

Since you haven't planted the burkwood, you could take it back ....

Apparently not every one in the garden center knows what they are doing. Whereabouts are you located, btw? Be careful of Viburnum dilatatum (linden viburnum) - not only is it not native, it is considered a potentially invasive pest in some areas of the U.S.

Esh, I'm a bit confused myself over which viburnums are native. The attached link suggests that viburnum dilatatum is native in at least part of the USA -- or is the "thunb." at the end of the name an indication that it is a different viburnum dilatatum? Whereas, UConn (http://www.hort.uconn.edu/plants/v/vibdil/vibdil1.html) says that viburnum dilatatum is from east asia and can be invasive. From a quick web search it appears that Burkwood is a hybrid and thus is not technically native to anywhere - I don't know its parentage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Viburnum dilatatum Thunb.

If you scroll down on the PLANTS Profile for Viburnum dilatatum Thunb, it looks like it's not a native despite the distribution map:

Introduced Information:
Viburnum dilatatum Thunb.

This plant is introduced to the United States from another country or countries. Click on link below for a partial or complete list of U.S. introduced plants.

Yes, the USDA site includes maps of species that are exotic invasives. On the upper left hand corner look for the "Native Status" code "I," which stands for "introduced."

BTW, I don't think the USDA maps are very good at showing accurate invasive species distributions. They say Rosa multiflora hasn't reached western New York, but there's a big stand of it on some unmaintained public land right next to my house.

Yep, look for the "native status" indicator.

There is lots of innacurate information out there regarding which plants are native and which aren't. The nursery business and the internet are a great places to find misinformation about native plants. There are some nursery growers who are very much concerned with accurately reporting where a plant is native, and others who don't seem to mind reporting almost anything as native. I received a mail order catalog this spring offering 'native' daylilies! (day lilies are native to asia). Some places report a plant as native if it is a wild form of the plant, so, for instance, a daylily that is the same form of the plant that grows wild in asia might be reported as 'native' in a north american catalog. This is obviously an error when looked at the way we on this forum define native plants, but perhaps it is correct if you define 'native' as 'wild form of the plant.'

Anyway, I think it is important to look at several sources of information when determining if a plant in native, and be a little skeptical about the info you find on the internet. I usually give more credence to a source that describes the native range of a species than one that simply lists a plant as native or introduced.

Amelanchier caught my error. I saw that the plant can be found somewhere in the lower 48 states but failed to notice the code for it being introduced.
Multiflora rose has reached a lot of places. My aunt in MO says it is there. We definitely have it all over NY.

I'm pretty sure that this plant is native to New England and Canada. And NY for that matter. There are many varieties of amelanchier and probably some of them are from other parts of the world and therefore introduced if they are here.

As a significant consumer of viburnums myself, I must agree with dkgarber's interest in the genus, and esh_ga's list of choices presented. I disagree that one should return V. x burkwoodii just 'cause it isn't native to North America.

V. x burkwoodii actually hails from England, derived from the fine work of Mssrs. Burkwood and Skipwith early in the last century. It is a hybrid of V. carlesii and V. utile (which are Asian), and was selected for vigor, fragrance, and semi-evergreen character depending on what zone you garden in. This is a perfectly good plant for the bones of any garden, and that's all I'll say about it (since this is the native plants forum).

For the original question, big plants that grow quickly and fruit heavily for feathered friends would include:

ÂV. dentatum - arrowwood is the most rewarding shrub that requires the least work. There are over 25 different clones available for fall color, fresh foliage, fine flowering, fantastic fruiting, form...

ÂV. rufidulum - the rusty blackhaw rewards the gardener with lustrous substantial foliage and great fall color, on top of copious bloom and heavy fruiting. This is a small tree, and can be grown multi-stemmed if desired.

ÂV. prunifolium - blackhaw appears nearly the same plant as rusty blackhaw, differing mainly in the coloration of the dormant buds, timing of bloom, and less glossy foliage. It is another small tree that can be grown multi-stemmed.

ÂV. nudum - Raisin viburnum (this really needs a better common name) is a versatile big shrub with glossy summer foliage, tons of flowers, fruit that proceeds through an incredible range of colors before finally settling on a deep blue at maturity, and tremendous persistent fall color. 'Winterthur' is the most common clone available. Since one should always plant multiple related individuals (not solely one clone) in order to achieve best fruiting, look for others like 'Brandywine', 'Earth Shade', etc. so that cross-pollination is maximized.

With these four native species, you can create a 12 week flowering sequence (mid-spring to early summer) as well as a really long period of fruiting for birds and your enjoyment.

Except for the few species that have shown some invasive tendencies (notably V. dilatatum in the mid-Atlantic region), I'd venture to take a go at almost any viburnum you come across to increase your collection.

Not to hijack the thread, but VV, what do you think about V. lentago, nannyberry? I planted three of them bareroot this year, and two of them are just starting to leaf out. I got this species b/c it is native to western NY & apparently the birds like to eat the berries in winter. However, I've never actually seen one (that I know of) and thus don't really know what to expect.

I have several native Nannyberry plants in my yard. They were here when we built our house and are still going strong. The original stand is about 15 feet tall with white flat top composite flowers. It's so tall now that I can't see the flowers at all - they're way over my head! Some of its offspring have seeded throughout my woods and are doing fine. Nice shelter for the little animals, and they give my yard a "wild" feeling.

Deeper in my woods I have maple leaf viburnum and some other one that I can't identify. Not nannyberry nor maple leaf. I live in rural Maryland in "unimproved" woodland.

Florrie

Hi, amelanchier. Never bashful to offer an opinion, especially concerning viburnums.

Nannyberry is a perfectly good viburnum - where it is happy to grow. I think this is a species that does much better in more northerly zones like yours (zone 5b and colder).

Here, I have a couple of plants that struggle every summer in the heat and humidity and higher soil temperatures. You've never seen the powdery mildew...

To me, it is the northern synonym to blackhaw and rusty blackhaw viburnum. It will hybridize with blackhaw, to produce the species Viburnum x jackii. I admire it from the perspective of the Ohio River valley, but am happy to grow what does well here, which are the other species I've mentioned.

Thanks! We have pretty cool summers here, so hopefully that will help.

I have a question for VV regarding Viburnum dentatum. I recently helped my elderly aunt relandscape her front yard. She has an older 1950's era home in a suburb of Kansas City. The driveway enters off the street to a single car garage on the east end of the house. From the driveway, a sidewalk goes across the front to the front door. The sidewalk is protected by the roof overhang. In front of the sidealk is an 18' long by 4' deep flower bed which was originally planted with yews. At the end of the sidewalk, the house juts out 4 feet which continues to the west end. The house faces north. Junk maples were planted in the front yard. Recent ice storms have virtually destroyed the maples and recently a tornado finished them off. I pulled out the yews and replaced them with some Girad's Fuschsia Azalea that my aunt wanted. In an effort to introduce some natives, I want to plant a viburnum at the west end of the front flower bed for height and spring and fall color. This plant needs to hide the water meter and hose bib. Would a Viburnum dentatum be a good choice? I have been looking at the Forest Keeling Nursery website.

RW