Hello everyone,
As it turns out I had a Juneberry growing right by my house for decades. I tasted some of the berries on the tree and unfortunately they were quite bland. Has anyone grown named varieties? Are they any good? I’m surprised not many people mention this tree as many sources online state its quite tasty, grows in many conditions and can grow all the way done to zone 3.
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In a comparison to blueberries, I’ve never eaten a serviceberry that I though was ‘bland’!
Quite a few blueberries fit the bland description.
I suppose if you like aronia or gooseberries or black currants, you might consider serviceberries bland. Apple servce berries (such as Princess Diana or Autumn Brilliance) do offer some named cultivars. Those being hybrids I endorse zones 5-7.
For zones 3 and 4, try the amelanchier alnifolia, or Saskatoon berries…they do offer several cultivar.
They don’t do well in z. 6 and I can’t specify which if any are less or more flavorful.
Again, I’ve never eaten any that don’t compare favorably to blueberries in a ‘taste test’/‘taste-off’.
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I’ve only tried a few varieties and right now,Northline is my favorite.
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The landscape plants at my town’s city hall taste fabulous when ripe, but i don’t know what variety. Some have said most common landscape variety is Autumn Brilliance.
Sadly they are susceptible to Cedar Apple Rust, and last 2 years have had no viable crop.
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Most likely you are correct in the assessment. In the early 1990’s I got to graze street plantings in Mt.Vernon/Renfro Valley, KY. Yum!
And in 1999 I managed a large garden center for the spring season and got to sample the goodies. Seeds are a little big for good jam or pies…but for fresh eating, can’t be beat.
But most of the service berries are susceptible to CAR / CSR
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i have a wild one growing out of my hedgerow of spruces. berries are pretty good. i like them slightly under ripe.
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I’ve grown both ‘Regent’ and ‘Standing Ovation’, both are Amelanchier alnifolia cultivars. They are pretty similar in taste. I would say my ‘Regent’ bushes gave slightly plumper berries and had a more vinous taste, the ‘Standing Ovation’ berries were smaller but brighter tasting. ‘Standing Ovation’ also produced heavy crops of berries, which was something we didn’t expect from a plant selected for its columnar habit.
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Do you have any experience grafting serviceberries? I’m interested in adding named cultivars of serviceberries. I have a few serviceberry volunteers around my property and I’m wondering if Amelachier Alnifolia will take on any seedling.
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They seem to graft easily. Have done several .
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Great, thank you! Looking forward to trying in the spring.
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i put in a northline this spring. it produced a doz. berries on a 16in. tree. they were very good. on par with my wild one in the back yard but bigger. also got a free apple serviceberry seedling from arbor day a few years ago. no berries yet and its slow growing.
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I have Standing Ovation and finally got to taste a few berries this year. I liked them, I can’t wait until I start getting a larger crop. I just got Regent from Edible Landscape a few weeks ago. It was small so I put it in a larger pot and will over winter it in my unheated greenhouse.
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Keep us updated. But I didn’t do much good myself…10 seedlings about 25 years ago all died before ever producing the first fruit. (Of course, I was holding 3 jobs you might say at the time…so they didn’t get any TLC). Mildew a problem. I prefer the ‘apple’ serviceberry in Kentucky
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they are very prone to mildew at high humidity so better in cooler enviroments.
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Highly prone to what I think is rust (car) as well. I have to spray mine to get fruit.
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our white cedars dont carry CAR so not a issue here. bugs really like them though.
If I’m not mistaken, your cedars are actually “arborvitae” rather than junipers.
Right?
yes or Thuja occidentalis.
Biggest pest on them for us is cedar waxwings. It does work to distract them from the sour cherries, so at least a partial win, but I’d rather get some myself!
The other issue is that I’ve got it planted right up to the sidewalk and it doesn’t like the salt from snow clearing.
When we’ve gotten fruit, they are very tasty. I agree they are best for fresh eating but they do make a decent filler berry when mixed in with tastier things in baked goods.
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Ahhh…yes, I used the common “arborvitae” but the Latin name is Thuja!
Good one.
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