I planted my A. Currasavica seeds today. I wanted to spring sow them outdoors, but some people have said they grow slowly. So, I planted them into potting mix and put them under my light to try to get a jump on the season. Hopefully, I'll get germination and eventually successful transplant outside to the garden. Then I just need to find Monarch eggs or cats to raise. We should keep lines of communication open so we know who has found eggs and who has healthy supplies of milkweed to keep the cats healthy and well fed. It's too bad we don't understand more about how the Monarch's navigation system works. I don't know what kind of an effect transporting the eggs or cats away from the place they were "born" might have on their ability to continue the migration successfully. It still seems like it's pretty important to improve their chances of survival, at least in the short run. Martha

I have grown a couple of the plants you asked about. I planted currants in Johnstown years ago and had very good success. The soil was a moist, clayey, probably acidic soil. Two bushes each had loads of berries every summer. I found the berries pretty sour, but the birds loved them. I got my plants from Burpee, I think, and they were a standard red garden currant. Very easy to grow. Wild elderberry is very common in PA, and should be no problem to grow. They pop up by themselves all the time in my yard in State College. Spicebush is common in parts of PA in the wild. With reasonably moist soil they should do fine. Only female shrubs get berries, but you need at least at a couple of males. Where they occur in the wild it is often possible to find tons of seedlings that you could transplant. Unfortunately you can't tell if a seedling is male or female until it grows large enough to bear flowers. I have not heard of people eating them, but birds love the berries. Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) is VERY invasive and is one of the most invasive plants in open woods and fields of PA. I don't think anyone should ever plant it. However, if you want berries it shouldn't be hard to find lots of wild ones in the fall. Ginkgo is a fairly common street tree. I think you'd have no trouble growing one anywhere in the state.

If you're asking about fruit that is edible for humans, there are blackberries, a couple kinds of raspberries, wild strawberries, elderberry, blueberries, huckleberries, grapes and probably a couple I am leaving out. All of these can be grown in gardens. Typically you'll see cultivars, hybrids, or non-native species of these sold for gardens, but the native species could be grown. I think I'd choose garden cultivars of blackberry and raspberries if I was going to grow them in a garden, and I guess the same goes for all the others. If I was going to grow them in a wild setting, I would choose the native species. If you are talking about fruits for wildlife, there are tons of good choices. Many species of viburnum are good. Dogwoods (several species in PA) are great, as are several species of cherry. I think there are almost too many to list.

Stolen from Penn State. Shrubs Red chokeberry, Aronia arbutifolia 4-9 Black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa 3-8 Sweetshrub, Calycanthus floridus 4-9 Button Bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis 6-9 Summersweet, Clethra alnifolia 4-9 Siberian dogwood, Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ 3-7 Silky dogwood, Cornus amomum 4-8 Gray dogwood, Cornus racemosa 3-8 Redosier dogwood, Cornus sericea 2-7 Possumhaw, Ilex decidua 5-9 *Inkberry, Ilex glabra 5-9 Winterberry, Ilex verticillata cultivars and hybrids 3-9 Virginia sweetspire, Itea virginica 5-9 *Laurel, Kalmia species 4-9 *Drooping Leucothoe, Leucothoe fontanesiana 5-8 Spice bush, Lindera benzoin 4-9 Northern bayberry, Myrica pensylvanica 3-6 Pinksterbloom azalea, Rhododendron periclymenoides 4-8 Swamp azalea, Rhododendron viscosum 4-9 American elder, Sambucus canadensis 4-9 Highbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum 3-7 Arrowwood viburnum, Viburnum dentatum 3-8 European Cranberrybush, Viburnum opulus 3-8 American Cranberrybush, Viburnum trilobum 2-7