Audubon® Native Swamp Dogwood

Host a bird buffet in your backyard! Swamp Dogwood is an uncommon native Accent that birds find uncommonly good. The main attraction is a generous crop of beautiful blue berries in late summer and early fall. These high-calorie, high-fat morsels are particularly valuable to birds getting ready to migrate and needing an energy boost, but winter-resident birds adore them, too. Bluebirds, Cedar Waxwings, vireos, grosbeaks, and robins are among Swamp Dogwood’s biggest fans. Although berries are the big draw with this plant, insect-eating birds will find plenty on the menu as well. A host of caterpillars and other tasty bugs feed on its foliage.

Everyone knows about the famous Flowering Dogwood Tree and its beautiful blossoms and bird-pleasing fruits. But there are many other, lesser-known native Dogwoods that serve wildlife as well. Swamp Dogwood is a shrubby cousin to Flowering Dogwood that is found all over the Northeast and Midwest. It likes moisture at its feet, so it usually grows near ponds or wetlands. Likewise, it’s ideal for a pond’s edge or marshy area on your own property, or simply for a low spot in your yard that drains slowly. Grow it en masse for maximum wildlife appeal.

Swamp Dogwood’s creamy-white flowers open in late spring. They aren’t as flashy as those of Flowering Dogwood, but they are more appealing to pollinators. All sorts of bees and other buzzing things will visit them. Swamp Dogwood is also a host plant for the darling little spring azure butterfly. You may discover it laying eggs around the time the flowers bloom.