Greetings! Here are a few off the top of my head...

Witch Hazel - Hammemelis virginiana flowers very early, like March!!

Inkberry Holly - Ilex glabra should be evrgreen for you. Persistant fruit for Songbirds. Likes wet soil...

Red Chokeberry - Aronia arbutifolia Awesome autumn color. Red fruit all winter long. Try also Glossy Black Chokeberry A. melanocarpa. NOTE...these are not Choke CHERRIES!

red-twig Dogwood - Cornus something Autumn fruit, winter color...STRIKING!

Bayberry - Myrica pennsylvanica THE BEST fuel for southbound Yellow-rumped Warblers, neat scent should be evergreen.

Not sure about SpiceBush (L. benzoin)... It has red fruit if female. It is the host plant for Spicebush Swallowtail. Autumn color? Persistant fruit? I can't say.

How about Buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), Coralberry (Symphoricarpos sp.) or Snowberry (Symphoricarpos alba). Hard to find, but will be very VERY Bird friendly!!

Viburnum trilobum - American Cranberry bush. Red fall color, bright red berries that everyone says the birds won't touch until softened up by winter freezes.

I agree with the suggestion for red-twig dogwood. I'm growing a cultivar called 'Cardinal' that is bright red. There are dark red varieties too.

My personal favorite is winterberry holly - ilex verticillata. Bare black branches covered with red holly berries. There are dwarfish varieties that should stay within your size specs.

I love things with bare branches and peeling bark. Oakleaf hydrangea is great, clethra acuminata (cinnamonbark or mountain) clethra.

Thanks for the suggestions!! I have a question about holly... Do you need more than one plant for berries? My neighbor to the left and a neighbor across the street have hollies, but am not sure what kind and when they flower... I am also interested in the Bayberry and the Viburnum. Keep 'em coming!

Jenny

Hi Jenny Yes you need a male holly that blooms the same time as the female holly and or winterberry same for bayberry there's male and female also spicebush. As far as viburnum trilobum goes you should have two they aren't male and female but two different cultivars so you will get more berries . Sarah

Do all of those plants tolerate shade? I thought a lot of berrying bushes preferred full sun.

Winterberry and spicebush tolerate shade the others I'm not sure about. I have bayberry in sun and a viburnum trilobun in semi shade under neighbors large magnolia tree. I'm sure it would be healthier in full sun.But one is fairly large other not quite as big it produces flowers and berries. Sarah

V. trilobum does well everywhere from full sun to mostly shade. It's quite an adaptable plant, like serviceberry or elderberry--plants that should be growing everywhere and used to be before the world got papered over with asphalt and norway maples. And you do not need two different cultivars or two plants to get lots of berries. (I grow only pure species.) V. trilobum is a gorgeous plant, and the berries are so pretty they look fake, but be aware that the birds will not touch them until spring, if at all. Also, viburnums take several years to bloom--figure three years for this species.

If I could put in one, and only one shrub, I'd plant an elderberry (Sambucus canadensis). Pretty, prolific, easy to grow, and a bird magnet. Cannot tolerate extreme drought, but does fine in ordinary situations, from full sun to deep shade. Of course, it doesn't have the winter interest of V. trilobum.

Oh, my gosh--- I was "window shopping" in the nursury today and saw an elderberry for the first time! I am IN LOVE!! And considering all I've heard about the berries being bird candy, I am all over this plant. No, I don't think it would be appropriate for the area that I was originally thinking about... but NOW I am thinking about WHERE, OH, WHERE shall my sambuca go? It's funny how my search for a plant for one specific area has led me to search for areas for a specific plant...

Jenny

Oh, wait--- I am researching sambucus now and am not quite sure--- the gorgeous one that I saw had fern-like lacey foliage... Is this native or a European cultivar? I know I am off-topic, but I cannot find good pics on the internet.

Jenny

Elaine said about V. trilobum--"And you do not need two different cultivars or two plants to get lots of berries. (I grow only pure species.)"

That information is incorrect. You need more than one unrelated plant to produce "lots of berries." Be it two seedlings or a seedling and a cultivar, or two different cultivars, you still need two to produce great quantities of fruit. In the case of V. trilobum, the cross pollinator often comes in the form of V. opulus, which grows rampantly in woods, and many yards as well. "Pure species" is also a bunch of rubbish, as any V. trilobum cultivar is also a "pure species." Just because the plant was picked from a group of seedlings for its superior properties does not somehow make it an inferior plant. On the contrary, they often have attributes that make them even more wildlife friendly.

Jenny, forest farm has a lot of elderberry shrubs. They're pictures are pretty good. I don't see one with I'd call ferny, but you can go and see if you can identify it. Or if you remember the name after sambucus....

Any of the viburnams I've planted, always the 1 to 3 gallon size, bloom the very next season...unless I buy it while it's blooming. Mine have never taken 3 yrs. to bloom.

Here is a link that might be useful: forest farm