Amelanchier alnifolia or Saskatoon berry offers tasty blueberry-like fruit and is also in important pollinator plant.
Description:
Amelanchier alnifolia is best-known as the Saskatoon berry but is also called the western or alder leaved serviceberry. It is a super hardy medium sized to large deciduous shrub that produces lovely white flowers in spring followed by tasty blue to purple-black fruit in summer that can be used in jams, jellies, pies, and herbal teas. The fruit have a similar nutrient profile to blueberries. The fruit was an important food for First Nations peoples who added the berries to dried meat to make pemmican. It is also an important larval host to the caterpillars of various swallowtail butterfly species. The fruit is eaten by birds, squirrels, and other wildlife. Photo: Wikipedia.
Common Name: Saskatoon Berry
Family: Rosaceae (The Rose Family)
Zone Hardiness: 2-9
Light: Full Sun, Part Sun
Height: 6-10'
Width: 3-5'
Primary Bloom Colour: White/Cream
Secondary Bloom Colour: Green
Class: Deciduous
Type: Shrub
Bloom Time: Spring
Soil Moisture: Average, Moist, Wet , Dry
Stem Colour:
Fragrance: Yes
Berries:
Benefits: Bees, Butterflies
Deer Resistant: No
BC Native: Yes
Native Habitat: Dry to mesic and sometimes moist sites on open rocky slopes and bluffs and in gullies, thickets, open forests and at forest margins from sea level to the subalpine across much of western North America.
Award:
Geogrpahical Origin: Americas - North America
*The Plant Encyclopedia is updated each year to provide a representation of the plants we offer, have offered, and may offer again. However, it is not a live inventory of our stock. Not all plants will be available at all times or in every year. Use the link above to enquire about the availability of this plant. Additionally, we carry many plants that have not yet been entered into our database so please enquire if you don’t see what you’re looking for. Plants are available only for on-site sales at our nursery in Richmond, BC, Canada or for shipping within Canada. We do not ship internationally. However, if you are visiting the nursery from afar, we can arrange for the necessary permits and paperwork for you to take plants back with you to your country.