# Bloom and fruit calendar

> 5 months without flowers, 6 months without fruit.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/?month=3&plants=bur-oak,white-oak

The calendar shows, month by month, when each of the 364 trees and shrubs we grow is in flower and when its fruit, nuts or acorns ripen. The months come from each one's own page, or the Woody Plant Seed Manual where a page gives none. The 53 common natives we do not grow have a group of rows of their own under them, with the months their sources give. Narrow the grid to the trees and shrubs that suit your zone, sun and soil, then pick the ones you are planting. The calendar marks the months your planting leaves with nothing in flower or fruit, and names the trees that suit the site and would fill them. Bees want flowers from March to November and birds want fruit from June to March. A planting can give both.

On paper this page prints the example alone. Pick trees and the planting prints; the grid of every species stays on the web page.

Without JavaScript the choices cannot be changed here: the grid and the gaps shown are for the choices in the address, or the calendar's own example. The gap finder marks the months a planting leaves with nothing in flower, from March to November, or in fruit, from June to March. It names the trees and shrubs that suit the site and would fill them.

Your planting: 2 trees From the plant pages and seed manual

*The planting's year: a month is filled where something is in flower or in fruit. A month bare inside the bees' March to November or the birds' June to March is hatched, and one outside those seasons dotted.*

**Nothing in flower in July to November.** Bees want flowers from March to November. Trees and shrubs from any zone that would fill some of it. Set your zone above to see only those that grow there.

- [Franklin Tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/franklin-tree/index.html.md) July to October
- [Smooth-bark St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/smooth-bark-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) July to October
- [Buttonbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/buttonbush/index.html.md) July to September
- [Lloyd's St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/lloyd-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) July to September
- [Loblolly Bay](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/loblolly-bay/index.html.md) July to September
- [Bartram's Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bartram-serviceberry/index.html.md) July and August

**Nothing in fruit in June, July and December to March.** Birds want fruit from June to March. Trees and shrubs from any zone that would fill some of it. Set your zone above to see only those that grow there.

- [Fragrant Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fragrant-sumac/index.html.md) June, July and December to March (berries)
- [American Mountain Ash](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-mountain-ash/index.html.md) December to March (berries)
- [Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dahoon/index.html.md) December to March (berries)
- [Devilwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devilwood/index.html.md) December to March (fleshy fruit)
- [Eastern Red Cedar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-red-cedar/index.html.md) December to March (berrylike cones)
- [Inkberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/inkberry/index.html.md) December to March (berries)

## Email me when any of these 2 is ready to order

For Bur Oak, White Oak: one email per plant when it is priced or back in stock, and nothing else. Each carries a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax.

*B on honey: in flower. P on green: a conifer shedding pollen. F on rose: fruit, nuts or acorns.*

| Tree | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Bur Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bur-oak/index.html.md)** Large tree, flowers Apr–Jun, acorns Aug–Nov |  |  |  | B | B | B |  | F | F | F | F |  |
| **[White Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-oak/index.html.md)** Large tree, flowers Mar–May, acorns Sep–Oct |  |  | B | B | B |  |  |  | F | F |  |  |
| In flower | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| In fruit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |

F covers the months the fruit ripens and falls, and the months it hangs on where birds or mammals still eat it. Months are as the plant pages give them, with the bees article's or the Woody Plant Seed Manual's where a page gives none. Many span a tree's range from south to north, and a Georgia spring runs weeks ahead of a Maine one.

## Reading the calendar

Each tree's months come from its own page, with the bees article's bloom calendar or the Woody Plant Seed Manual's flowering and fruiting dates where a page gives none. A tree's flowers matter to bees for a week or two; its fruit can matter to birds for a season, since the fruits marked as hanging on, winterberry's and the hawthorn's among them, feed birds in the winter gaps that count most. A dry pod, capsule or winged seed is marked only while it ripens, unless its page says birds or mammals eat it later. A conifer has no flowers, and its pollen months are marked P and left out of the flowers counted for bees. The 53 common natives we do not grow, in the grid's last group, take their months from Silvics of North America, the Woody Plant Seed Manual and the Fire Effects Information System; they stand outside the counts and the sign-up, and a planting may pick them.

A planting is checked for the months from March to November with nothing of it in flower and the months from June to March with nothing in fruit. Those are the months bees want flowers and birds want fruit. The trees and shrubs offered for a gap suit the site set above, and those that cover the most bare months come first, six at most. A planting that flowers from March to November and fruits from June to the following spring is the aim, and the gap finder above says what yours is missing.

The months do not change with the zone you set. Alabama Extension's page on [Hopkins' bioclimatic law](https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/forestry/estimating-alabama-bloom-times-using-hopkins-bioclimatic-law/) gives the rule of thumb. "Other things being equal, this variation is at the rate of four days for each degree of latitude, five degrees of longitude, and 400 feet of altitude." Spring comes later the farther north and the higher up you are, so a cold zone sees spring flowers late in each span.

The bees article has the [bloom calendar in words](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-bees/index.html.md), with what each flower gives; [the birds article](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-for-birds/index.html.md) has the fruit. The bundles that were built for this are [Honey Tree Trio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/bundles/honey-trio/index.html.md), [Native Edible Orchard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/bundles/edible-orchard/index.html.md) and [Bird & Berry Hedgerow](https://bluewhaletrees.com/bundles/bird-hedgerow/index.html.md).

## Month by month

- **[January](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=1)**: [Ozark Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ozark-witch-hazel/index.html.md), [Godfrey's Swamp Privet](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/godfrey-swamp-privet/index.html.md) and [Odorless Bayberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/odorless-bayberry/index.html.md) are among the seven trees and shrubs in flower. [Creeping Juniper](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/creeping-juniper/index.html.md), [Red Chokeberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-chokeberry/index.html.md) and [Inkberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/inkberry/index.html.md) are among the 36 in fruit.
- **[February](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=2)**: [Mayhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mayhaw/index.html.md), [Chickasaw Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chickasaw-plum/index.html.md) and [Elliott's Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/elliott-blueberry/index.html.md) are among the 27 trees and shrubs in flower. [Eastern Red Cedar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-red-cedar/index.html.md), [Winterberry Holly](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/winterberry/index.html.md) and [Fragrant Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fragrant-sumac/index.html.md) are among the 26 in fruit.
- **[March](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=3)**: [Flatwoods Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flatwoods-plum/index.html.md), [Roundleaf Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roundleaf-serviceberry/index.html.md) and [Eastern Leatherwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-leatherwood/index.html.md) are among the 109 trees and shrubs in flower. [Scrub Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/scrub-plum/index.html.md), [Staghorn Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/staghorn-sumac/index.html.md) and [American Mountain Ash](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-mountain-ash/index.html.md) are among the 14 in fruit.
- **[April](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=4)**: [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md), [Prairie Crabapple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-crabapple/index.html.md) and [Red Chokeberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/red-chokeberry/index.html.md) are among the 222 trees and shrubs in flower. [Water Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/water-elm/index.html.md), [Miccosukee Gooseberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/miccosukee-gooseberry/index.html.md) and [Netted Pawpaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/netted-pawpaw/index.html.md) are among the 10 in fruit.
- **[May](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=5)**: [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/index.html.md), [Inkberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/inkberry/index.html.md) and [Ninebark](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ninebark/index.html.md) are among the 263 trees and shrubs in flower. [Mayhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mayhaw/index.html.md), [Roundleaf Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roundleaf-serviceberry/index.html.md) and [Elliott's Blueberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/elliott-blueberry/index.html.md) are among the 23 in fruit.
- **[June](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=6)**: [Leadplant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/leadplant/index.html.md), [Black Elderberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-elderberry/index.html.md) and [Buttonbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/buttonbush/index.html.md) are among the 164 trees and shrubs in flower. [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md), [Canada Buffaloberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/canada-buffaloberry/index.html.md) and [Downy Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/downy-serviceberry/index.html.md) are among the 50 in fruit.
- **[July](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=7)**: [Devil's Walking Stick](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devils-walking-stick/index.html.md), [Sweet Pepperbush (Summersweet)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/index.html.md) and [Plumleaf Azalea](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/plumleaf-azalea/index.html.md) are among the 61 trees and shrubs in flower. [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md), [Arrowwood Viburnum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/arrowwood-viburnum/index.html.md) and [Black Elderberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-elderberry/index.html.md) are among the 83 in fruit.
- **[August](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=8)**: [Seaside Alder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/seaside-alder/index.html.md), [Cedar Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cedar-elm/index.html.md) and [Bartram's Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bartram-serviceberry/index.html.md) are among the 26 trees and shrubs in flower. [Flatwoods Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flatwoods-plum/index.html.md), [Black Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-oak/index.html.md) and [Roundleaf Dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/roundleaf-dogwood/index.html.md) are among the 175 in fruit.
- **[September](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=9)**: [September Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/september-elm/index.html.md), [Franklin Tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/franklin-tree/index.html.md) and [Lloyd's St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/lloyd-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) are among the eight trees and shrubs in flower. [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/index.html.md), [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) and [Prairie Crabapple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-crabapple/index.html.md) are among the 295 in fruit.
- **[October](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=10)**: [Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/index.html.md), [Smooth-bark St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/smooth-bark-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) and [Franklin Tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/franklin-tree/index.html.md) are the three trees and shrubs in flower. [Durand Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/durand-oak/index.html.md), [Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/dahoon/index.html.md) and [American Hornbeam (Musclewood)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-hornbeam/index.html.md) are among the 242 in fruit.
- **[November](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=11)**: [Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/index.html.md) is the one tree or shrub in flower. [Myrtle Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/myrtle-dahoon/index.html.md), [American Beech](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beech/index.html.md) and [American Persimmon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-persimmon/index.html.md) are among the 103 in fruit.
- **[December](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=bur-oak,white-oak&month=12)**: [Bigleaf Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/bigleaf-witch-hazel/index.html.md), [Netted Pawpaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/netted-pawpaw/index.html.md) and [Climbing Fetterbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/climbing-fetterbush/index.html.md) are among the four trees and shrubs in flower. [Seaside Alder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/seaside-alder/index.html.md), [Gum Bumelia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/gum-bumelia/index.html.md) and [Cockspur Hawthorn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cockspur-hawthorn/index.html.md) are among the 52 in fruit.

## Common questions

### When does flowering dogwood bloom?

[Flowering dogwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flowering-dogwood/index.html.md) flowers in April, and its berries are in season in September and October. Spring comes later the farther north and the higher up you are, so a cold zone sees its flowers late.

### What trees bloom in the fall?

Among the trees and shrubs we grow, [Franklin tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/franklin-tree/index.html.md) flowers from July to October, and [witch hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/index.html.md), a shrub, from October to December. [Buttonbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/buttonbush/index.html.md) and [seaside alder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/seaside-alder/index.html.md), both shrubs, still flower in September.

### What trees bloom in summer?

Among the trees we grow, [American basswood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-basswood/index.html.md) flowers in June, [sourwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sourwood/index.html.md) from June to August and [devil's walking stick](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devils-walking-stick/index.html.md) in July and August. [Sweet pepperbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sweet-pepperbush/index.html.md), a shrub, flowers in July and August.

### Do trees bloom later in colder zones?

Yes, by Hopkins' rule, as Alabama Extension gives it: spring comes about four days later for each degree of latitude north and each 400 feet of altitude. The calendar's months are the same in every zone, so a cold zone sees spring flowers late in each span.

### How can I have something in bloom all season?

Choose trees and shrubs whose months together cover March to November, when bees want flowers, and June to March, when birds want fruit. The calendar marks the months a planting leaves bare and names the trees that suit the site and would fill them.

## The table as a file

Download the table as [CSV](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/calendar.csv) or [JSON](https://bluewhaletrees.com/data/calendar.json): 364 rows, one for one tree or shrub the nursery grows, with the columns below. The figures are published under the [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) licence: use them with a credit to bluewhaletrees.com and a link to this page. Updated 2026-10-22.

### What each column means

- **slug**: the plant page's address, https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/<slug>/
- **name**: the common name the page uses
- **bloom_first**: the first month in flower, 1 to 12
- **bloom_last**: the last month in flower, 1 to 12
- **fruit_first**: the first month the fruit, nuts or seed ripen, 1 to 12
- **fruit_last**: the last month, 1 to 12
- **kind**: what ripens: acorns, nuts, berries, seed, cones and so on
- **pollen**: true for a conifer, whose bloom months are when it sheds pollen
- **note**: the calendar's own note on the plant, with the regions where the months differ

### How the table is made

The months are the plant page's own, read from the sources its page names, across the plant's native range. A southern plant flowers earlier than the table's first month in the far South and later in the North. The files are written from the calendar records and checked against them at every release.

### Cite this page

Copy a link or a reference:

```
`<a href="https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/">Bloom and fruit calendar: the months every species flowers and fruits</a>, bluewhaletrees.com, updated 2026-10-22`
```

bluewhaletrees.com. Bloom and fruit calendar: the months every species flowers and fruits. Updated 2026-10-22. https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/

The address carries the bloom and fruit calendar's inputs, so a link opens it filled in, and Copy link on a result writes one: plants (the slugs of the plants in the planting, joined by commas), zone (a whole number from 2 to 10), sun (full, part or shade), moisture (dry, average or wet), month (a month from 1 to 12), kind (bloom, fruit, or both joined by a comma). For example, [/tools/calendar/?plants=american-persimmon,pawpaw&zone=6&kind=bloom,fruit](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=american-persimmon,pawpaw&zone=6&kind=bloom,fruit).