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Hardy and adaptable. Prefers full sun for best fruit flavor.
GROW SOMETHING WONDERFUL
Serviceberry
Amelanchier alnifolia
Your guide to planting, growing, and getting to know this plant.
THE PLANT NOTEBOOK
Serviceberry care, from seed onward.
- Botanical name
- Amelanchier alnifolia
- Common names
- Saskatoon, Juneberry
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Genus
- Amelanchier
- Species
- A. alnifolia
Growing with your kit
The Seeds In A Cup® Methodology involves 'scarifying' the seed coat to mimic the passage through a bird’s digestive tract.
Propagation
By seed, suckers, or grafting.
Seasonal growth & harvest
Blooms profusely in spring; fruit ripens mid-summer. One of the highest wildlife values of any shrub.
Growing conditions
Open woods, hillsides, and river valleys.
Weather & tolerances
Extremely cold hardy; moderate drought tolerance.
Pests & plant health
Saskatoon sawfly and rust.
Plant safety
Safe and highly nutritious.
Botanical features
A deciduous shrub or small tree. Produces large clusters of sweet purple berries that resemble blueberries but are related to apples.
Varieties
‘Smoky’, ‘Northline’.
Garden & everyday uses
Commercial fruit crop in Canada (Saskatoons). pies, jams, and bird habitat
Native range & distribution
Western North America, from Alaska to the Great Plains.
Conservation
Secure.
Name origins
Derived from the French ‘amélanche’, the name for the fruit of Amelanchier ovalis.
History
Critical food source for the Lewis and Clark expedition; berries were dried to last through winter.