Landscaping with Edible Natives

Virginia is home to an incredible variety of native plants – so many that it can be hard to choose what to plant! As spring approaches, you might be in the market for new plants to cover an area of bare ground or add some all-season interest to an empty spot in your garden. Maybe it’s time to try adding some edible native species to your garden and enjoy the fruits (and leaves) of your labor for many years to come! Check out several highlighted species below. 

Common elderberry – Sambucus canadensis 

Standing between 6–12 feet, Common Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is a showy deciduous shrub that makes a beautiful statement (Fig. 1). It blooms from May to July with delicate white clusters of flowers followed by dark purple berrylike fruit (Fig. 2) from July to September. S. canadensis thrives in part sun/shade and prefers rich, moist, acidic soils (between 5.5–6.5). 

S. canadensis is a cross-pollinated species, so it is best to plant more than one in a given area. The shrub provides a source of food for birds as well as a nesting structure for bees. 

We mostly know Common Elderberry for its medicinal use as studies suggest its ability to boost immunity and or shorten the length of a cold or flu virus. The berries can also be used to make jams, jellies, wines or cordials. Elderflowers can be picked after opening and used to make syrup, wine, cordials, and teas. 

Figure 1. Elderberry bush. Photograph © F.D. Richards (flickr) 

Figure 2. Elderberries. Photograph © Thomas Cizaukas (flickr) 

Common Pawpaw – Asimina triloba 

A tropical-tasting fruit native to the Commonwealth, Pawpaws are locally beloved and celebrated in early fall. At maturity, a Pawpaw tree can stand between 10–40 ft and uncommonly, flowers before leaf emergence. The understory tree boasts unique bell-shaped flowers with purplish-red leafy petals in April–May (Fig. 3). At up to six inches long, Pawpaw fruit, that ripen from late August through September, are the largest edible fruit of any tree native to North America (Fig. 4). The greenish-yellow fruits have a custardy flesh that some say tastes of banana with hints of mango or melon (Figs. 5&6). This unique species has no serious disease or pest problems but is too delicate for commercial farming — making it a great option for home-gardeners. These trees grow best in rich, moist, slightly acidic soils in places like floodplain forests and rich woods. 

Figure 3. Pawpaw flower at Julie Metz Wetlands in Woodbridge, Virginia. Photograph © Judy Gallagher. (flickr) 

Figure 4. Underside of a Pawpaw tree with fruit attached. Photograph © Noah Holkeboer. (flickr) 

Pawpaws tend to grow in colonies as genetically identical plants, like birch trees, and require pollination from one colony to another. According to the Virginia Native Plant Society, “Pawpaws belong to an ancient family of flowering plants that evolved about 85 million years ago and the dark red flowers and odor attract carrion flies and scavenger beetles that pollinate them”. The fruit is also a tasty treat to many forest mammals and birds but the leaves are off-putting and distasteful to most herbivores. Perhaps most interesting, Pawpaw trees are the only host for Zebra Swallowtail Butterflies (Eurytides marcellus; Fig. 7), which eat the unpleasant leaves as caterpillars. The caterpillars subsequently retain neurotoxic chemicals in their body tissues as both larva and as adults, making them distasteful to (and thus protected from) potential predators. 

Please take care when harvesting as some people can have an unpleasant reaction from touching the fruit. We also encourage not harvesting Pawpaw fruit unless it has already fallen off the tree. 

Figure 5. Unripe Pawpaw fruit on a tree. Photograph © Wendell Smith. (flickr) 

Figure 6. Ripe Pawpaw fruit cut in half to reveal flesh and seeds. Photograph © Scott Zona. (flickr) 

Figure 7. Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly. Photograph © Melissa McMasters. (flickr)

Early Lowbush Blueberry - Vaccinium pallidum 

Looking for an edible groundcover with the ability to spread? Early Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum) might be a sweet addition to your home. V. pallidum can be found in a variety of habitats ranging from forests, dry woodlands, clearings, disturbed soils, or thickets. It can grow in sun or in shade and prefers sandy, rocky, and acidic soils — of which there is no shortage of in Virginia! 

Early Lowbush Blueberry develops dainty greenish white and pink bell-shaped flowers between March and May and bears ripe fruit June through July. These sweet berries are not just beloved by people but also by wildlife like songbirds, black bears, turkeys, and small mammals (Fig. 8). As a member of the Heath family (Ericaceae), Early Lowbush Blueberry is a host plant for the Brown Elfin Butterfly (Callophrys augustinus; Fig. 9) as well as a support for many native bees including: Andrena bradleyi, Andrena carolina, and Colletes validus. 

Figure 8. Lowbush blueberries. Photograph © Caleb Siemmons. (flickr) 

Figure 9. Brown Elfin Butterfly. Photograph by Alan Schmierer. (flickr) 

Read more articles in the Spring 2025 CSWCD Newsletter here.