We have about one acre occupied largely by native plants, including lots of cane berries. For several years I have been selectively removing new canes from Himalayan blackberry plants and evergreen (cutleaf) blackberry plants and encouraging canes from trailing blackberry plants. During that time, the trailing blackberry plants have become conspicuously more vigorous and productive. The trick with these berries is to be especially careful to locate and encourage the female plants. Given exposure to light, they will layer and spread rapidly.

The birds that breed in our yard seem to leave black cane berries alone, regardless of whether they are native, feral, or cultivated. In early summer, robins nest near or in salmonberry patches and make heavy use of the berry crops. Later, they will use other berries, including Vaccinium, but the blackberry crops seem safe from the birds. Song sparrows and spotted towhees sometime nest in the blackberry thickets, but they seem to prefer thickets of salal or (especially) oceanspray. I have seen both of these birds taking salal berries and Vaccinium berries, but not black cane berries.

Ted Lewis
Bainbridge Is.
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