On mine, the berries are still there when the bush is flowering the next spring. Perhaps they have not been "discovered" by the local wildlife yet. I won't comment on the bush in general as I am fighting some sort of bacterial/fungal disease in many of my V. dilatatums. They look like hell.

This exact thing is happening to mine as well, it does look like root rot since they pull out of the ground easily and are mushy but that doesn’t make any sense since they are marsh plants. I live in georgia and when I first noticed it I thought I was over watering so I limited the water I gave them but its Been almost a month and they are still suffering. My best guess is that it‘a either under watering or some kind of fungus/disease. I’m going to attempt to give them more water and spray them down with a fungicide and see if I have any success, if you’ve happened to figure out what went wrong with yours I would greatly appreciate any advice.

I've grown this from seed for the past 3 years. The foliage on mine is starting to really fill out now too. No blooms yet either, but it doesn't usually start blooming until mid-August, so no worry. Right now, the Monarda is still in bloom and the Lobelia cardinalis is going strong, and the Zinnias are blooming, so the hummers have plenty of nectar. The cardinal climber provides nectar for the late summer up until the hummers leave in September. I don't know that there is anything you can do to encourage earlier blooming, other than maybe starting them inside under lights and planting them out earlier in the season, but this might be tricky to do with a vine.

"Depending on where you live, it is either a Canyon Towhee or California Towhee." Thanks, BN! I realized after posting that I should've mentioned where I am--I'm in the San Gabriel Valley in the Los Angeles area. From looking at pics after reading your reply, I THINK it's a California Towhee. Thanks again!