# Bloom and fruit calendar

> 6 months without flowers, 8 months without fruit.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak

The calendar shows, month by month, when each of the 414 trees and shrubs we grow is in flower and when its fruit, nuts or acorns ripen. Narrow the grid to the trees and shrubs that suit your zone, sun and soil, then pick the ones you are planting. The months come from each one's own page, or the Woody Plant Seed Manual where a page gives none. The 45 common natives we do not grow have a group of rows of their own under them, with the months their sources give. 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.

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.

![Chinquapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) glossy, coarsely toothed leaves on a summer branch](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/chinquapin-oak-160.jpg)

*Photo: Dan Keck, CC0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AChinkapin_Oak_%2841534893070%29.jpg)*

![Chestnut oak (Quercus montana), a broad open-grown tree in full summer leaf on a lawn](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/chestnut-oak-160.jpg)

*Photo: Bruce Kirchoff, CC BY 2.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AQuercus_montana-Entire_R_9_c_%2824164868335%29.jpg)*

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 March and 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.

- [Spanish Dagger](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spanish-dagger/index.html.md) July to November
- [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
- [Groundsel Bush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/groundsel-bush/index.html.md) August to October
- [Lloyd's St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/lloyd-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) July to September

**Nothing in fruit in June to August and November 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 to August and November to March (berries)
- [American Mountain Ash](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-mountain-ash/index.html.md) August and November to March (berries)
- [Devilwood](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/devilwood/index.html.md) August and November to March (fleshy fruit)
- [Northern Bayberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-bayberry/index.html.md) August and November to March (berries)
- [Sarvis Holly](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sarvis-holly/index.html.md) August and November to March (berries)
- [Showy Mountain Ash](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/showy-mountain-ash/index.html.md) August and November to March (berries)

For fruit or nuts, the [pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak:1) says how many of each tree the planting needs.

Ask what is ready: [put these 2 on my request list](https://bluewhaletrees.com/list/#items=chinquapin-oak:1,chestnut-oak:1).

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

Limited time Sign up now and get **10% off** when it is ready.

One email per plant you tick, when it is priced, and nothing else. Each carries a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax. Or ask, and we reply with what is ready now.

*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 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **[Chestnut Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chestnut-oak/index.html.md)** Medium tree, flowers Apr–May, acorns Sep–Oct |  |  |  | B | B |  |  |  | F | F |  |  |
| **[Chinquapin Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chinquapin-oak/index.html.md)** Medium tree, flowers Apr–Jun, acorns Sep–Oct |  |  |  | B | B | B |  |  | F | F |  |  |
| In flower | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| In fruit | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 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 45 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=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-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 [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) are among the 40 in fruit.
- **[February](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=2)**: [Mayhaw](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/mayhaw/index.html.md), [Trailing Arbutus](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/trailing-arbutus/index.html.md) and [Chickasaw Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chickasaw-plum/index.html.md) are among the 32 trees and shrubs in flower. [Eastern Red Cedar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/eastern-red-cedar/index.html.md), [Inkberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/inkberry/index.html.md) and [Fragrant Sumac](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/fragrant-sumac/index.html.md) are among the 30 in fruit.
- **[March](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-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 [Trumpet Honeysuckle](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/trumpet-honeysuckle/index.html.md) are among the 122 trees and shrubs in flower. [Scrub Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/scrub-plum/index.html.md), [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) and [Winterberry Holly](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/winterberry/index.html.md) are among the 17 in fruit.
- **[April](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=4)**: [Chokecherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/chokecherry/index.html.md), [Saskatoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/saskatoon/index.html.md) and [Prairie Crabapple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-crabapple/index.html.md) are among the 248 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 13 in fruit.
- **[May](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-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 298 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 31 in fruit.
- **[June](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=6)**: [Leadplant](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/leadplant/index.html.md), [Sheep Laurel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sheep-laurel/index.html.md) and [Black Elderberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-elderberry/index.html.md) are among the 194 trees and shrubs in flower. [Saskatoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/saskatoon/index.html.md), [Black Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-cherry/index.html.md) and [Canada Buffaloberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/canada-buffaloberry/index.html.md) are among the 62 in fruit.
- **[July](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-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 77 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 96 in fruit.
- **[August](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=8)**: [Seaside Alder](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/seaside-alder/index.html.md), [Groundsel Bush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/groundsel-bush/index.html.md) and [Cedar Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/cedar-elm/index.html.md) are among the 31 trees and shrubs in flower. [Common Juniper](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-juniper/index.html.md), [Flatwoods Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/flatwoods-plum/index.html.md) and [Black Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-oak/index.html.md) are among the 201 in fruit.
- **[September](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=9)**: [September Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/september-elm/index.html.md), [Buttonbush](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/buttonbush/index.html.md) and [Franklin Tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/franklin-tree/index.html.md) are among the 10 trees and shrubs in flower. [Nannyberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nannyberry/index.html.md), [Prairie Crabapple](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/prairie-crabapple/index.html.md) and [White Oak](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/white-oak/index.html.md) are among the 330 in fruit.
- **[October](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=10)**: [Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/index.html.md), [Spanish Dagger](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spanish-dagger/index.html.md) and [Smooth-bark St. John's-wort](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/smooth-bark-st-johns-wort/index.html.md) are among the five 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 270 in fruit.
- **[November](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-oak&month=11)**: [Witch Hazel](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/witch-hazel/index.html.md) and [Spanish Dagger](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spanish-dagger/index.html.md) are the two trees and shrubs in flower. [Spanish Dagger](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/spanish-dagger/index.html.md), [Myrtle Dahoon](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/myrtle-dahoon/index.html.md) and [American Beech](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-beech/index.html.md) are among the 117 in fruit.
- **[December](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=chinquapin-oak,chestnut-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 60 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): 414 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/) license: use them with a credit to bluewhaletrees.com and a link to this page. Updated 2026-10-26.

### What each column means

- **slug**: the plant page's address word: the page is https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/ followed by the slug and a slash
- **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 press on a box copies it.

A link, as HTML

```
<a href="https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/">Bloom and fruit calendar: the months every species flowers and fruits</a>, Blue Whale Trees, updated October 26, 2026.
```

A reference, in APA style

```
Blue Whale Trees. (2026, October 26). Bloom and fruit calendar: the months every species flowers and fruits. 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).