Berries for bird habitat... a couple trades each of possumhaw holly/ilex decidua and Carolina Moonseed/snailseed vine/cocculus carolinus to trade for other native berry or nut producers or seeds from my wishlist. Post here only! Hotmail is not reliable w/emails from GW PP

I. decidua may not be strictly dioecious but they are indigenous on my property and some, in fact most, do not produce berries. So I would ask the source if you buy one. I have had a difficult time finding a source. The Green Plant Market grows them from time to time and the owner, Jim Rodgers seems to be very knowlegeable about native trees. They do apparantly have a weeping form and a gold berried form, but are "temporarily out" of the typical red berried tree. Because it is generally quite small as trees go, they list it under shrubs. http://www.wegrowit.com/greenplant/GreenPlantMarket.html

Foster's holly is hybrid between Ilex cassine and Ilex opaca, two native hollies. Two other well known cultivars with the same parents are 'Savannah' and 'East Palatka' (the second one forever burned into my brain thanks to that show on HGTV which was based in Florida). 'Savannah' is a beautiful holly and I would expect Foster's holly would be similarly so. Not being very familiar with Foster's holly, I had not heard that it doesn't need a male. In looking around, www.mobot.org, does confirm what you say, but other websites still say that it needs a male. This is a good description of how the plant came to be (and to be called #2) from www.mobot.org: Foster holly is the common name attached to five different interspecific hybrids (Ilex cassine x Ilex opaca) introduced into cultivation in the 1950s by E. E. Foster of Foster Nursery in Bessemer, Alabama. Of the five original clones, #1 and #5 are no longer available in commerce, #4 is a male which is uncommonly available (female Foster hollies do not require a male pollinator for fruit development) and #2 and #3 are female plants which are commonly available but are so similar in appearance as to be virtually indistinguishable. Although #2 is by far the most common female clone, nurseries sometimes sell the clones today as male or female Foster hollies without reference to clonal numbers. Foster #2 is a small to medium-sized, broadleaf evergreen tree with a dense, upright, pyramidal habit. It typically grows to a mature height of 20-30' tall with a spread of 10-15' unless pruned otherwise. Features glossy, dark olive green, elliptic to obovate, evergreen leaves (2-3" long). Each leaf has 1-5 well-spaced, tiny, spiny, marginal teeth per side. Small white flowers bloom in late spring. Flowers are followed in fall by an abundant and showy crop of bright red berry-like drupes which persist throughout the winter. Sounds like a winner. Here is a link that might be useful: www.mobot.org

Susan, OK, here are some suggestions for you to consider for ground covers on your sloping soil: Native Plants: Native plants would be preferable for many reasons, particularly because they are well-adapted to our highly variable weather both in terms of wild temperature swings and erratic rainfall. The native understory plants in our woods include many of the plants I've listed below and while they sometimes have died back to the ground during our toughest drought periods (obviously we don't irrigate 10-11 acres of woodland), they always rebound when rain returns. One note about natives: they aren't necessarily easy to find. You'll have to search out nurseries that feature native plants, including mail-order companies that may have the native plants themselves or at least seeds, rhizomes, stolons, etc. VIRGINIA CREEPER (Parthenocisssus quinquefolia): This plant has a well-deserved reputation as a garden thug, and we have it all over our property, so I understand why it has that reputation. However....and this is a big "however": it is hard for me to dislike any plant that tolerates our often-poor soils, extreme heat and both heavy flooding rains and months with little to no rainfall. For somebody with a large amount of ground to cover and a small budget, this is a no-brainer, as long as they don't mind having to pull it down out of the trees (or trim it back from them) or off buildings now and then. Virginia Creeper survives only on rainfall, although it will benefit from being watered once or twice a month in "Extreme" or "Exceptional" drought conditions. It is deciduous which could be a "minus" for someone looking for evergreen color, the foliage turns a gorgeous brilliant red in autumn and it produces tiny berries that are used by overwintering songbirds as a source of nutrition in the cold, winter months. Susan, I know you probably don't want this one, but I'd be remiss if I didn't include it because it is one of the toughest, best-growing, native groundcovers we have in Oklahoma. If I needed a groundcover in a semi-wild section some distance away from the house where I wasn't going to water and where it might get minimal maintenance (in this case the maintenance would be to pull it down from the trees at the end of the growing season and weed-eat it back from pathways as needed), this is the one I'd pick. I'd never have to fertilize it, water it or worry about heat and drought or cold temps killing it. CORALBERRRY (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus): This is a lovely, usually short, almost-but-not-quite-green plant that grows in dappled shade to part shade in mostly dry soil. It colonizes an area by spreading underground stolons which makes it great for erosion because it will go everywhere. This plant has clusters of very small but pretty pinkish berries that reach their peak color in fall, and the leaves are a sort of pale lime-green when they appear in spring and darken slightly going into summer. If your soil stays moist all the time, it probably could not compete with more rampant growers, but in our mostly dry soil it grows and spreads well. In our heavily overgrown and well-shaded woodland, it grows best on the edges in dappled shade and thins out some in heavy shade, to it is best in dappled shade or in a mixed woodland with other plants grow with it and can fill in better in the heavy shade while it predominates in dappled shade. PARTRIDGEBERRY (Mitchella repens): This is a low-growing 92-4" tall) creeping groundcover that spreads by creeping stolons. It has tiny white flowes and produces smallwhite berries. Unfortunately, it likes evenly moist soil so would need irrigation in order to survive our summers, or could grow in a moist area along a creek bank or spring. It is an evergreen and the dark green leaves and flowers are small to it is more of a small, subtle background plant than a big bold plant that shouts "look at me". WIDOW'S TEARS (Commelina spp.): This is a very tough native groundcover with small blue flowers (1-1.25") that open in the mornings. While it can be invasive in a home landscape that receives regular watering, it is less rampant in a non-irrigated naturalistic landscape. These get a foot or two tall (how tall depends on the species and how much moisture it receives), goes dormant in the winter months, and will spread via either rhizomes or stolons depending on which species you grow. Commelinas can grow anywhere from full sun to part shade to dappled shade, but may not bloom in very heavy shade. Probably available as started plants from nurseries that feature native plants, it also can be grown from seed. HORSEHERB (Calyptocarpus vialia) This is a semi-evergreen (almost fully evergreen in zone 8 but seems it isn't necessarily evergreen in zone 7) that grows low, maybe to about 10" max but can be kept mowed to 2-4" and used as a lawn substitute. It blooms on and off with tiny yellow flowers. During the last 20 years this has become very popular with folks in Texas doing xeriscaping with native plants, but I don't know if it has caught on much in Oklahoma yet. It will grow in full shade to part shade to dappled shade. It is not breathtakingly beautiful, but it is tough and survives fairly rough conditions. Since it forms fairly dense almost turf-like mats of foliage, it will tolerate both mowing and foot traffic which is unusual in a ground-cover type of plant. It spreads by stolons. You can raise it from seed if you can find seed or collect seed from an established stand. Available from nurseries that specialize in native plants. FERN ACACIA (Acacua abgystussuna): Very fine foliage and small white, globe-shape powder-puff type flowers. Grows in full sun to part shade. Can grow 1 to 3 feet tall depending on sun exposure and moisture or lack of such. Spreads by rhizomes. Native to Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Mexico and parts of the southeastern U.S. This particular acacia doesn't have thorns like some of them do. In shade, will survive pretty well with no irrigation after it is established, but in part-sub to full-sun, it might need to be watered once or twice a month. EBONY SPLEENWORT (Asplenium platyneuron): In our dry woodland, this is thicker and more prolific in wet years and almost nonexistent in very dry years. It is a very small, low-growing fern that exhibits remarkable drought tolerance. They are said to get as tall as 16-18" but the ones in our heavily shade woodland tend to stay at about 6 to 8 to 10" in height. In needs good drainage, so in our woodlands, it appears on little ridges that are slightly higher than the surrounding ground. BRACKEN FERN (Pteridium aquilinum, v. pseudocaudatum): This is a taller fern that gets a foot or two tall and is tolerant of dry woodland areas once established, so it would need regular irrigation the first year or so. It can grow anywhere from full sun (with regular irrigation) to full shade as long as the soil is well-drained. UNDERSTORY TREES: Small native trees, often referred to as understory trees, could be planted to fill the 'gap' between taller forest-type trees and low-growing groundcovers. Some of the small native trees you could use would include these: RUSTY BLACKHAW VIBURNUM (Viburnum rufidulum): This is a deciduous understory tree whose leaves are green in spring and summer and turn a purplish-orangeish-reddish-yellowish color in fall. Flowers in spring are white and appear only after the trees are fully leafed out. They are tiny, appear in clusters and are heavily fragrant. Birds eat the fruit. Because this one has limbs that slowly hang back down to the ground (not really weeping but just slowly growing downward over ime), it is best planted away from pathways. Can grow in everything from full sun to full shade, but may not bloom in shade heavier than dappled shade. OKLAHOMA PLUM/THICKET PLUM: (Prunus gracilis): These are the very small plum trees that gradually form a thicket. Their height is variable, but generally stays between about 2 and 6 feet. They have very fragrant blooms in early spring and produce tiny plums. They grow best in well-drained soil, but here in southern OK they seem to survive in some pretty thick clay soils as well. Other similar but taller thicket plums are Chickasaw Plum (P. angustifolia) and Hog Plum/Creek Plum (P. rivularis). The latter two can get 6 to 12' tall and are valuable sources of food for wildlife or the small plums can be made into jelly. They are very pretty in bloom, but not nearly as lovely the rest of the year, but they are tough and tolerate low-rainfall and drought. REDBUD (Cercis canadensis): I'm sure you're familiar with these. They are great understory plants and in our wood land they spread easily by seed although it can take yound saplings 4 to 7 years of growth before they begin blooming. Very drought tolerant, but if in "extreme" to "exceptional" drought, they'll benefit from being watered once or twice a month. Tolerate full sun but are happier in dappled to part shade. POSSUMHAW HOLLY (Ilex decidua): This is a native, deciduous holly that produces large crops of berries that stay on the plants well through winter and into early spring. It generally maxes at around 12' in height, to maybe 15' when old and well-established. It does tend to sucker and form thickets in native, woodland settings. At our house, the birds migrating north in late winter and early spring usually strip the berries off the possumhaw hollies. The berries provide great winter cover, and when the trees bloom in spring the tiny flowers are very attractive to bees and other small pollinators. Very touch and drought hardy. Ours will sometimes drop leaves if not watered during periods of "extreme" to "exceptional" drought, but rebound quickly when watered or when rainfall returns. Possumhaw is a slender, multi-trunked tree with bark that is a pale, light gray. It has a look similar to yaupon holly but with significantly larger leaves. Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is very similar but grows taller and has smaller, thicker leaves. One reason that yaupon and possumhaw holly grow so well in native woodlands and naturalistic landscapes is that they tolerate everything from very dry soil, drought and full sun (once established, but need some water the first year or two) to slow-draining clay. SUMAC (Rhus spp.): Often reviled as a 'roadside weed', Sumacs have grown in popularity with people who prefer native plants that tolerate tough conditions. Flameleaf or Prairie Sumac (R. lanceolata) gets about 10 to 15 feet tall and grows best in well-drained soil. In the fall, the leaves turn a vivid red. In the spring, it has white blossoms that grow in tallish pyramid-shaped clusters that can be 4-6" tall. Spread by suckering. This form of sumac has winged leaves and is most often found in moister soils in the eastern part of the state. The closely related Smooth Sumac is more aggressive but lacks the winged leaves. NATIVE GRASSES: Native grasses can be very useful for erosion control in areas with lots of sun, and there are a couple of them that tolerate heavier shade. INLAND SEA OATS (Chasmanthium latifolium) grows from full sun to all kinds of shade--full shade, part shade and dappled shade. Sometimes I see it on the eastern edges of woodlands where is gets full sun until noon and is shaded after that. This one gets 2' tall in dry areas and up to 4' tall in wetter areas. It will grow in most soils and tolerate soil moisture that ranges from very dry to poorly draining soil. The pretty, drooping seedheads dance in the wind and are showy when massed. Will spread by rhizome in conditions it likes. Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is a native grass ofren found growing under and around native Post Oak trees. It will stay shorter (maybe 2 feet tall) in drier soils and can get up to 5' tall in moist ground. Foliage is a lovely blue-green in summer and turns a warm tan to light brown in fall and winter. It prefers well-drained soils but tolerates heavy seasonal moisture. MUHLY GRASS is native in parts of Oklahoma and Texas as as part west/sothwest as Mexico and as far east as Massachusetts. The native one seen most often in Oklahoma is Seep Muhly (M. reverchonii) which tolerates alkaline soil. Muhly grass gets about kneehigh and has feathery pinkish seedheads in fall. It will grow in most soils and tolerates seasonal poor drainage as well as pretty dry soils in summer. SPLITLEAF BLUESTEM (Andropogon ternarius) grows in well-drained sandy soil and tolerates drought. Here on our land, it grows on the eastern edge of the woodland where it gets morning sun and well-drained clay and on the edges of a swampy area in a woodland clearing. It usually gets only a foot or two tall, but in a rainy year might make it to 3 or 4 feet tall. The seedheads are little tufts of silvery-white. It and little bluestem grow in similar conditions on our property, sometimes mixed together. Spreads by seed and is a clumping grass and not a running grass. NATIVE FLOWERS: Some perennial flowers spread out in every-enlarging areas and make good groundcovers. Some annual wildflowers reseed to well they seem like perennials. The easy way to figure out which native wildflowers would make a good groundcover planting would to be to sow a wildflower seed mix formulated for Texas/Oklahoma (see the Website of Wildseed Farms for ideas of the available mixes) and see what grows and does best. Plants that are happy in your growing conditions will reseed and spread and make effective groundcover type plants. I'm out of time and need to go haul home some freebie hay for mulch and compost in a few minutes, so I'll come back later and try to list some well-adapted plants that would give you more of a 'created' landscape look than a native one. You can, of course, blend together natives and adapted plants for a naturalistic landscape that clearly is manmade but which was well-thought-out to give a look that is natural but not totally wild. Dawn