Amelanchier alnifolia, the Saskatoon Serviceberry
By Greenthumb
4 Nov, 2013
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A few pages ago I posted the white blooms. Now after a summer fighting leaf miners of some sort, here it is with ripened fruit, bearing very well, but nearly leafless. Still a lovey things. Its matching partner was eaten by moose in winter and is much smaller, so this set back didn't worry me much. They'll be back together next. They have a nice slightly blue foliage. :-)
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Its a mild flavor that sweetens very well. People here use it to lengthen the blueberry crop, but that is due to the abundance of wild blueberry. I love the bluish foliage and the abundant white spring blooms. The pair I have flanking the Prunus triloba, another spring bloomer in pink and they have the azaleas just before them! Anyway, I probably wont see 'that spring' for a few years yet. I would think this species would be available for you. Its wild all along the country south of the Alaska range.
The pest.........I'm not sure what it is. We have multiple leaf miner type here that riddle the leaves with trails until they fall away. The other serviceberry stayed free of this. I'll have to investigate solutions to solve it in case of infestation next year.
8 Nov, 2013
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I would like to have one of these...they say the berries make delicious pies and jam. Moose know berries! lol....
Perhaps you have sawflies. Their larvae will strip even Austrian pine! I find that the hardest part of growing fruit is keeping it from the critters long enough for it to ripen.
7 Nov, 2013