Bayscape Blog 9/21/10
By Judy DeFiglio
Choose a Chokeberry for Great Fall Color
The Aronia arbutifolia (Red Chokeberry) is a great native shrub to use to create many seasons of interest in your landscape. Dark green, glossy leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall. Clusters of tiny white flowers appear in mid-spring and are followed by bright red fruit in late summer. The plentiful berries last long into the winter. They are very sour tasting which is why the common name is chokeberry. While the fruit may taste too astringent for humans to enjoy, the berries do provide food for birds throughout the winter.
Aronia can grow in full sun to part shade and grows up to eight feet tall. It is a multi-stemmed shrub that spreads four to six feet wide and looks great in mass plantings or as a single focal point in your garden. This shrub can take a dry or wet site or anything in between. Chokeberries enjoy our acid soil and don’t need fertilizer, a real plus for the environment.
Aonia is one of my favorite native plants. I don’t know why this beautiful, easy care shrub is so underutilized by Jersey gardeners. I usually include one in every landscape I design. Give one a try in your garden and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
By Judy DeFiglio
Choose a Chokeberry for Great Fall Color
The Aronia arbutifolia (Red Chokeberry) is a great native shrub to use to create many seasons of interest in your landscape. Dark green, glossy leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall. Clusters of tiny white flowers appear in mid-spring and are followed by bright red fruit in late summer. The plentiful berries last long into the winter. They are very sour tasting which is why the common name is chokeberry. While the fruit may taste too astringent for humans to enjoy, the berries do provide food for birds throughout the winter.
Aronia can grow in full sun to part shade and grows up to eight feet tall. It is a multi-stemmed shrub that spreads four to six feet wide and looks great in mass plantings or as a single focal point in your garden. This shrub can take a dry or wet site or anything in between. Chokeberries enjoy our acid soil and don’t need fertilizer, a real plus for the environment.
Aonia is one of my favorite native plants. I don’t know why this beautiful, easy care shrub is so underutilized by Jersey gardeners. I usually include one in every landscape I design. Give one a try in your garden and I promise you won’t be disappointed.
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