Gardening — Wisconsin Native Fruit Trees
Wisconsin has a diverse native flora that includes wild fruit trees native to the state. Choosing varieties
that grow naturally within the state for home gardens and landscapes ensures the trees will grow and
flourish. Given the diversity of fruiting trees available, it isn't hard to choose one or several for
landscaping, collecting fruit or the beauty of spring blossoms.
Growing fruit trees in Wisconsin is not without challenges, but the reward of an abundant crop of healthy,
mouthwatering fruit makes it worthwhile for many gardeners.
Fruit trees need a lot of care in order to grow and produce well. If the weather does not cooperate, this task
can prove impossible. In Wisconsin the optimal fruit tree growing zone is along the southern tier of the
counties, going up along the shore of Lake Michigan, and then up along Door Country. The optimal zone
is also the one which stretches along the southeastern shore of Lake Superior. In all these areas the lake
alleviates the worst effects of the hard winter temperature.
Restoring native plant habitat is vital to preserving biodiversity. By creating a native plant garden, each patch
of habitat becomes part of a collective effort to nurture and sustain the living landscape for birds and other
animals.
Native plants are those that occur naturally in a region in which they evolved. They are the ecological basis
upon which life depends, including birds and people. Without them and the insects that co-evolved with them,
local birds cannot survive.
Here are 7 Wisconsin native fruit trees that not only support native pollinators but also provide edible
fruit for you! Be sure to click on the tree name to get more details.
Native Berry Shrubs are great too! Whether they're on your cereal or in jams, jellies and pies, berries are a
favorite sweet treat. Read more: Wisconsin Native Berry Shrubs
Wisconsin Native Fruit Tree Catalog
Height: 15-50 feet
Bloom: Late spring/Early summer
Sun: Full Sun
Zones: 2-9
Soil: Loam
Moisture: Medium, Moist
Color: White
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Apple Fruit Tree Description: The apple, Malus pumila, is a deciduous tree,
generally standing 6 to 15 feet tall in cultivation and up to 30 feet in the wild. When cultivated, the size,
shape and branch density are determined by rootstock selection and trimming method. The leaves are
alternately arranged dark green-colored simple ovals with serrated margins and slightly downy
undersides. Blossoms are produced in spring simultaneously with the budding of the leaves. The
fruit matures in late summer or autumn.
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Height: 35-50 feet
Bloom: Late spring/Early fall
Sun: Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade
Zones: 4-9
Soil: Loam
Moisture: Medium
Color: Green
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Red Mulberry Tree Description: Red Mulberry, Morus rubra, is a medium sized,
upright spreading to rounded, deciduous tree that typically grows to 35-50’ tall. It is native to rich woods,
bottomlands and wood. It typically occurs in woodlands, rocky places, pastures, fields and along roads
throughout the state. It is noted for its often lobed leaves, milky sap, reddish-brown bark and edible fruits.
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Height: 50-80 feet
Bloom: Late spring/Early summer
Sun: Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade
Zones: 3-9
Soil: Loam
Moisture: Medium
Color: White
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Black Cherry Tree Description: Black Cherry, Prunus serotina, typically occurs in both lowland and upland woods and along streams. It is one of
the largest of the cherries, typically growing to 50-80’ tall with a narrow-columnar to rounded crown. It is
noted for its profuse spring bloom, attractive summer foliage and fall color. Fragrant white flowers in
slender pendulous clusters (racemes to 6” long) appear with the foliage in spring (late April-May).
Flowers are followed by drooping clusters of small red cherries that ripen in late
summer to dark purple-black.
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Height: 20-30 feet
Bloom: Late spring/Early Fall
Sun: Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade
Zones: 2-8
Soil: Loam
Moisture: Dry, Medium
Color: White
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Pin Cherry Tree Description: Pin Cherry, Prunus pennsylvanica, forms a small tree,
up to 30 feet in height in our area. The tree occurs in sandy clearings, shores, and plains; borders of
forests and fields and in open (rarely swampy) forests, usually with aspen, white birch, and/or jack pine.
It has a straight trunk and a narrow, but rounded top crown. The bark is shiny reddish-brown to
grayish-brown that has numerous horizontal fissures called lenticels. Pin Cherry has attractive and
conspicuous in bloom late in the spring. The cherries are small and very sour, but they are often
numerous and they make good jelly.
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Height: 15-25 feet
Bloom: Late spring/Early Summer
Sun: Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade
Zones: 4-9
Soil: Loam
Moisture: Medium
Color: White
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Downy Serviceberry Tree Description: Downy Serviceberry, Amelanchier arborea, also called
Downy Juneberry, is a deciduous, early-flowering, large shrub or small tree which typically grows 15-25
feet tall in cultivation but can reach 40 feet in the wild. Occurs most often in open rocky woods, wooded
slopes, and bluffs. Features 5-petaled, showy, slightly fragrant, white flowers in drooping clusters which
appear before the leaves emerge in early spring. Flowers give way to small, round green berries which
turn red and finally mature to a dark purplish-black in early summer. Edible berries resemble blueberries.
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Height: 15-25 feet
Bloom: Spring
Sun: Full Sun
Zones: 3-8
Soil: Loam, Rocky, Sand
Moisture: Dry, Medium
Color: White
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American Plum Tree Description: American Plum (Prunus americana) is a small,
deciduous, single trunk tree or multi-stemmed shrub which occurs in rocky or sandy soils in
woodlands, pastures, abandoned farms, streams and hedgerows. As a tree, it typically grows to 15-25
feet tall with a broad, spreading crown. White flowers (1 inch diameter) appear in March before the
foliage. Fertilized flowers often develop into fleshy fruits that are globoid and about 1 inch across. These
fruits are initially green, but they later become yellow or red.
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Height: 10-16 feet
Bloom: Last spring/Early summer
Sun: Part Shade, Shade
Zones: 3-7
Soil: Loam
Moisture: Moist
Color: Pink, White
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Canadian Wild Plum Tree Description: Canadian Wild Plum, Prunus nigra, is a deciduous
shrub or small tree growing to 33 feet tall with a trunk up to 25 cm diameter, with a low-branched, dense
crown of stiff, rigid, branches. The bark is gray-brown, older layers coming off in thick plates. The
flowers are 0.59–0.98 inches in diameter, white fading to pale pink, with a more
or less irregularly notched margin and appear before the leaves in mid to late spring. The fruit is an
oblong-oval drupe, 25–30 millimeters (0.98–1.18 in) long with a tough, thick, orange red skin, free from
bloom, yellow flesh adherent to the stone; the stone oval, compressed. The fruit is somewhat sour,
clingstone, and very juicy.
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Wisconsin Native Violets
Wisconsin Edible Berry Shrubs
Dandelion Recipes
Edible Plants In Your Garden
Beautiful Flowering Shrubs