When placing the American holly 

 in your landscape, mimic nature by 

 buffering the shrub behind buildings, 

 walls or other shrubs and trees. 



• Quail and bluebirds prefer the 

 blue-black berries of the red bay. 

 This large evergreen tree is closely 

 related to the avocado and occurs 

 naturally in maritime forests among 

 canopies of yaupon, live oak, cedar 

 and myrtle. Like other native coastal 

 plants, the red bay has lots of 

 potential as an ornamental in the 

 home landscape. 



• More than 68 birds are known 

 to devour the blue-green berries of 

 the female eastern red cedar. Among 

 them are the purple finch, bluebird, 

 evening and pine grosbeak, mocking- 

 bird, myrtle warbler and Bohemian 

 waxwing. Since the eastern red cedar 

 is dioecious (there are male plants 

 and female plants), only the female 

 shrubs bear fruit. This native ever- 

 green can grow 25 feet high or more. 



Carolina Laurelcherry 



But in areas where it is exposed to 

 salt spray, it is usually reduced to 

 shrub size. When used in landscap- 

 ing, the red cedar should be planted 

 on the lee side of the house or behind 

 other protective vegetation. 



• The shiny black berries of the 

 Carolina laurelcherry are fall fare for 

 the bluebird, mockingbird, robin, 

 cedar waxwing and the ring-billed 

 gull. This native evergreen tree is 

 common in shrub and woodland 

 zones along the coast. In the yard, the 

 laurelcherry makes a decorative 

 border along roads or property lines. 



• The bright purple berry clusters 

 of the American beautyberry are a 

 meal for the cardinal, mockingbird, 

 brown thrasher, wood thrush, 

 bobwhite, catbird and robin. The 

 show of beautiful fall berries makes 

 this shrub an excellent choice for 

 landscaping, especially when paired 

 with evergreens. The berry-laden 

 branches make an attractive display 



American Beautyberry 



against the dark green foliage of 

 evergreens. 



• Two varieties of wild grape, 

 the summer grape and muscadine, 

 are vigorous, prolific vines along the 

 coast and offer birds and small 

 animals an ample supply of fruit. 

 Both grapes can be planted to 

 stabilize dunes, or they can be trained 

 to cover a fence, trellis or arbor. If 

 you can compete with the birds, the 

 grapes from both can be made into 

 jellies and wine. 



For more information about 

 native plants and their conservation 

 uses and benefits, send for a copy of 

 "Seacoast Plants of the Carolinas" by 

 Karl E. Graetz. This timeless Sea 

 Grant classic is $4.50 and provides 

 more than 200 pages of valuable 

 coastal landscaping advice. Send a 

 check or money order to N.C. Sea 

 Grant, Box 8605, N.C. State Univer- 

 sity, Raleigh, NC 27695-8605. □ 



Wax Myrtle 



COASTWATCH 21 



