There is nothing sweeter than growing your own fruits and berries. Here are a few easy ones for our climate!

These plants are native to Europe but have become a staple in woodland gardens in North America. Blackberries and raspberries typically have thorns but there are thornless varieties. Be careful where you plant these, they can be invasive because the canes sprout roots wherever they touch the ground.

This tropical looking fruit is native to North America. It’s the largest fruit native to our country and tastes like banana, pineapple, and mango. The trees are easy to grow, but multiple paw paws are required for cross pollination to get fruit.

You might not have heard of Paw Paw before because the fruit is rarely available in stores. They are only ripe for a few weeks in early autumn and don’t travel well. You’ll find this at local farmers markets and sometimes available frozen as smoothies and ice cream.

This beautiful North American native has a gorgeous cloud of white flowers in spring followed by beautiful, edible berries in autumn. Blueberries

Many gardeners know about these beautiful shrubs but may not know that they are also native! They are easy to grow in containers or in the ground. The hard part is keeping the birds from eating them!

This unusual native fruit is closely related to the plums and peaches were used to, but are the size of grapes. Beach plums grow on small shrubs that are incredibly salt tolerant. They are a great choice for gardeners that live close to the water, but they will grow even better when they are not exposed to salt. The fruit has a bitter and sweet taste described like cranberries. This makes them better for jams or baking than eating raw.