Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees. Charlotte Adelman

(p. 91), dine on and feed their babies caterpillars and the small insects attracted to the willows’ sugar-rich nectar. Northern harrier, yellow warbler (p. 89), American goldfinch (p. 145), gray catbird (p. 79), and willow flycatcher often construct their nests in willow thickets. Birds including ruffed grouse (p. 36) and ducks such as northern pintail, mallard, and wood duck (p. 162) eat willow seeds, buds, and/or catkins as emergency spring food, as do red-breasted nuthatch (p. 322), black-capped chickadee (p. 322), dark-eyed junco (p. 322), common redpoll (p. 54), fox sparrow (p. 322), pine siskin (p. 54), tree swallow, woodpeckers (pp. 55, 212), and hawks. Birds like the gray catbird (p. 79), rusty grackle, yellow warbler (p. 89), red-winged blackbird, warbling vireo, eastern kingbird, and herons nest in willows. Downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, prothonotary warblers, and tree swallows nest in shoreline willow snags. The yellow-bellied sapsucker (p. 79) drills into black willows for sap.

      See Spring Trees for more native WILLOWS, p. 118.

      Acadian hairstreak butterfly (Satyrium acadica)

      Luna moth (Actias luna)

      Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus)

      Pine siskin (Carduelis pinus)

      Common redpoll (Acanthis flammea)

      Tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)

      Sparrow hawk aka American kestrel (Falco sparverius)

      Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

      Eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)

      Red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)

       More Native Alternatives:

      OZARK WITCH HAZEL, p. 75.

      See Fall Shrubs for SILVERBERRY, p. 229.

      See Winter Shrubs for DWARF CHINKAPIN OAK, p. 311.

      See Spring Trees for AMERICAN HAZELNUT, p. 102.

      See Winter Trees for ALDER SPP., p. 316.

      Korean rhododendron (Rhododendron mucronulatum)

       Nonnative:

      RHODODENDRON, AZALEA. Family: Heath (Ericaceae). Genus: Rhododendron. Origin: Japan, China, Korea, Europe; KOREAN RHODODENDRON (R. mucronulatum). Height/Spread: 4–8 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Reddish-purple flowers in mid-spring. Zones: 5–7; JAPANESE AZALEA (R. japonicum). Zones: 5–8; KOREAN AZALEA (R. yedoense). Zones: 4–9; YELLOW AZALEA (R. luteum). Zones: 6–9; HONEYSUCKLE AZALEA (R. ponticum). Zones: 6–9; TREE RHODODENDRON (R. arboreum). Origin: Himalayas. Ornamental Attributes: Red flowers. Cultivation: Part to full shade. Some need sun. Moist, well-drained, acidic soil, fertilization, soil acidification, mulching, pruning, sheltered location, burlap screen, refraining from digging around shallow roots. In the United Kingdom, tree rhododendron is replacing the native woodland understory. Genus Note: Susceptibility to sun scorch, insect and disease pests, and leaf and flower frost damage applies to deciduous and evergreen rhododendrons/azaleas, including the species, hybrids, and cultivars. Poison Note: Rhododendron parts, including nectar, are poisonous, as is their honey, noted Aristotle and other observers from ancient days. Ecological Threat: Nectar produced by some species kills some species of bees.

       Native Alternatives:

      RHODODENDRON, AZALEA. Family: Heath (Ericaceae). Genus: Rhododendron. Genus Note: The Rhododendron genus includes rhododendrons and azaleas. Generally, rhododendrons are evergreen, while azaleas are deciduous. Cultivation: Rhododendrons perform best in partially shaded sites. Azaleas flower best with a few sunny hours. Both need the well-drained, organic-rich, acidic soil of their origins. To ensure a chosen plant suits the desired location, check with the purveyor. After planting, mulch to retain soil moisture. Species and Range Note: Like all plants, native azaleas generally grow best in the climates in which they naturally evolved. Species native to the northeast include rhodora. Species native to the Midwest include early azalea (roseshell azaela), rosebay rhododendron, Pinxterbloom azalea (pink azaela), and flame azalea.⁶⁰ According to Douglas Tallamy, the very showy azaleas that evolved in and around the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and southwestern Virginia are an example of “cases where a plant can be moved outside its native range and still perform some or even most of its evolutionary roles within its new ecosystem. . . . This can happen because traits such as leaf chemistry, shape, and toughness can be so similar among congeners that adaptations enabling an insect to grow and reproduce on one member of the genus predispose that insect to using other members of the genus,” he notes. “They can remain a functioning part of the ecosystem to which they are moved because insects adapted to local azalea species such as the Pinxterbloom azalea . . . should have no trouble using the southern species as a resource.”⁶¹ CATAWBA RHODODENDRON (R. catawbiense). Height/Spread: 6–15 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Evergreen shrub; clusters of large, rose or purple-lilac, funnel-shaped flowers late in spring. Hardy and easy to grow. “These evergreens [Rosebay and Catawba rhododendrons] are among the most spectacular of all flowering plants, native or exotic,” write Sternberg and Wilson.⁶² Natural hybrids between R. catawbiense and R. maximum occur in the wild where their ranges overlap. Zones: 4–7; EARLY AZALEA, ROSESHELL AZALEA (R. prinophyllum; syn. R. roseum). Height/Spread: 4–8 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Large, clove-scented, showy, pink flowers in April to May. Bright