While trying not to duplicate other postings:
* Some non-natives are outright horrors; spartina comes to mind. Pavement
and lawns are even worse.
* Blackberry is fine for birds in fall and winter. Native salmonberry,
elderberry, and thimbleberry to name a few are very productive in spring and
summer. Blackberry fruits ripen too late for most nestlings.
* Red Elderberry is extremely productive- birds nest in the bushes and eat
the berries. Butterfly species nectar from the blooms and use the bushes as
host plants. Deer love to eat the leaves after they've dropped in the fall.
I've seen deer pass up green forbs to get at fallen elderberry leaves.
* Salmonberry fruits are taken by a host of birds. Countless times I've seen
Swainson's Thrush hauling the berries away to their young.
* Blackberry grows well in disturbed areas that are hostile to some native
shrubs. I don't worry too much about blackberry bushes since we'll have 'em
forever do to their ability to occupy waste places. Oh, and I do love
blackberry pie!
* Ocean Spray (Holdiscus discolor) is a favorite native of mine. Butterfly
species use it as a host and birds often nest in it. I've seen chipmunks
crawl out on twigs that can barely support their weight just to get at the
tiny seeds.
Sooooo, plant 'em if you've got the room. But don't rip out the
blackberry bushes unless you are reintroducing natives AND have a plan to
maintain them until they are established.
Steve Ellis
Coupeville, Wa
sellis at coup.wednet.edu