Serviceberries? Yum!

The serviceberries are almost finished blooming in the Chicago area.

The amelanchier has more names than you can shake a stick at.  This small native tree/large shrub, often called a serviceberry, is also known as a juneberry, Saskatoon, shad blow, shad bush, sugarplum,  sarvisberry, chuckley pear or even currant-tree.

 I recently added another one – delicious.

While most people in recent years have focused on the tree’s ornamental qualities, its fruit increasingly is taking center stage. Amelanchier (pronounced am-el-LANG-kee-ur) is mentioned in the book “Edible Landscaping” by Rosalind Creasy as well as other similar books. It’s also being grown commercially in Canada’s Prairie provinces with great success.



Serviceberry flowers

The various amelanchier species do have nice white spring flowers, smooth gray bark and good fall color. Recent introductions have enhanced these traits, including Autumn Brilliance, which has great fall foliage.  Rainbow Pillar and Cumulus, two narrow upright versions, are great for smaller urban lots.

What most people don’t realize, though, is that the fruit is quite tasty and can be eaten straight off the tree. Many of the edible fruits from other trees and shrubs, like chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa) or elderberries (Sambucus spp.), need to be cooked with some sugar.

Serviceberries technically aren’t even berries; they are actually "pomes" or a tiny apple of sorts. They also are good for you, with lots of antioxidents. Native Americans mixed them with dried meat and fat to make pemmican, which sustained them in the winter.

I recently stumbled across a website that sells jam, syrup and pie filling made in Canada from a specific kind of serviceberries known as Saskatoons (Amelanchier anifolia).  So I ordered some jam and decided to treat my co-workers at a breakfast meeting.



Serviceberry jam

The tasting was a big hit!  They described the taste as similar to blueberries but with a twist. Some thought it has a slight almond taste, while others thought it was similar to that of blackberries, dark cherries or raisins. Needless to say, there wasn’t much jam left and my family quickly devoured that.

There are several efforts underway to promote these trees in the U.S. as a commercial crop or an addition to pick-your-own farms. These include Michigan's Saskatoon Project Midwest and a demonstration project by the Cornell University Cooperative Education Extension in upstate New York.

Both are focusing on Canadian varieties especially developed for their fruit: Regent, Smoky, Northline, Thiessen, Honeywood, Pembina, Martin and JB-30 (all Amelanchier anifolia).

Several of the more widely available serviceberries, including Regent (Amelanchier anifolia), and Cole Select, Autumn Brilliance and Princess Diana (all Amelanchier x grandiflora) are reportedly tasty. You also get the plant vigor usually associated with a hybrid form.

Meantime, I’m trying to figure out where I can put a few of these in my garden. Serviceberries, unlike blueberries, will grow in the alkaline soil common in the Chicago area and don’t require two different varieties to get a good crop.

They do, however, need full sun, good drainage, air circulation and watering during drought, especially while they are getting established. The fruit generally matures to a deep blue color here in early July, despite its "juneberry" nickname.

A serviceberry takes about three years before it starts producing a decent-sized crop. Given the wonderful taste and health benefits, though, I’m willing to wait. Now if I can only figure out a way to get the fruit before the birds do….

A serviceberry in full bloom

By Karen Geisler

The Lurie Garden in Spring

Ballade tulips in the Lurie Garden

Spring has come to the Lurie Garden in its own quiet, subtle way.

There are no tall grasses waving in the wind, no dramatic "rivers" of purple salvia grabbing your attention. You will, however, find a gorgeous Eastern redbud (cercis canadensis) in full flower and thousands of bulbs gradually coming into bloom.

As with many gardens in the Chicago area, the record-breaking heat last month has taken its toll. Some of the bulbs -- including the crocus and Glory-of-the-Snow (chionodoxa) --  have long since come and gone.

Look closely, though, and you'll find purple Grecian Windflower (anemone blanda) and Grape Hyacinth (muscari) nestled among the emerging salvia. There's prairie smoke (geum triflorum) without the "smoke" it will eventually eventually develop.  And scattered all around are Virginia bluebells (mertensia virginica) and several daffodils, including the poet's daffodil (Narcissus poeticus) and angel's tears daffodils (narcissus triandrus).

The white "Spring Green" tulips recently were joined by the colorful "Ballade." "Maureen" tulips also will eventually make an appearance. So there's plenty to see during a stroll through the garden on a warm spring day.

If you decide you need the yellow and red tulips that scream "Spring!" you can easily find that a couple of blocks away in the rest of Millennium Park. Me, I'll take the quiet interplay of colors and textures that seems to occupy the Lurie Garden year round.

An eastern redbud in full bloom



Virginia bluebells and "Lemon Drop" daffodils

Prairie Smoke without the "smoke"

"Spring Green" tulips

Muscari

Narcissus poeticus 'Actea'

By Karen Geisler

Spring-blooming trees

The flowers on an ornamental pear tree

Tulips, daffodils and other bulbs are all very nice when spring comes to town. To really make an impact, though, you need a flowering tree -- whether it's a magnolia, redbud, ornamental cherry, ornamental pear or crabapple.

I usually get a full month's worth of bloom out of these stalwarts in my garden. Not this year. Courtesy of the record-high temperatures, the magnolia has already finished its show in less than a week. My weeping ornamental cherry and ornamental pear are in full bloom while the redbud and crabapple are only a few days behind.

The cherry tree (prunus subhirtella var. pendula) is especially lovely this year. It has been through some exceptionally tough times --- drought the first year followed by cicadas and webworms. It generally hasn't produced a lot of flowers...that is, until this year. The mild winter has resulted in a veritable fountain of flowers that glow in the morning sun.

The flowers on a weeping ornamental cherry tree

Ornamental cherries should be in vogue this year, what with the 100th anniversary of Washington, D.C.'s  famous trees.  They can be a lovely focal point in the right spot. In the Chicago area, that may mean planting them in a location that's sheltered from the worst of the winter winds. They prefer full sun but will take part shade and they like their roots moist, but not wet.

There have been some promising new introductions in recent years  Among weeping cherries, there's Pink Snow Showers (prunus subhirtella 'Pisnshzam') and Weeping Extraordinaire (prunus serrulata 'Extrazam'). The latter, which has extra large double pink flowers, was among the plants featured in the "Sweet Melissa" fashion show at the National Green Centre in January.

In addition, there's the Royal Burgundy (prunus serrulata 'Royal Burgundy'), an upright ornamental cherry with reddish purple leaves and deeper pink flowers.

And, of course, you could always plant an Okame cherry, just like those around D.C.'s Tidal Basin. (Yes, they are hardy in Chicago.)

Ornamental pears

Ornamental pear trees (pyrus calleryana) are easy to spot in the landscape this time of year with their white flowers and "teardrop" shape. They often are mistaken for crabapples because the fruits, or "pomes," look a lot alike. The leaves of an ornamental pear are glossy, however, unlike those of a crabapple.

A  callery pear tree in my backyard

Many homeowners ask for a Bradford callery pear when they go shopping at a nursery. That particular variety, however, is no longer widely grown. Bradford, while beautiful, has been known to split because of the narrow angles where the branches divide from the trunk. Varieties that are now generally available include Aristocrat, Cleveland Select and Chanticleer, all of which are longer-lived and more stable.

Callery pears in general are fast growers and can top out at more than 30 feet when mature. They need full sun and will tolerate many different soils and pollution -- making them a good urban tree.

Redbuds

Eastern redbuds (cercis canadensis) are wonderful small trees with heart-shaped leaves and rosy violet flowers to die for.  Their branches have an interesting, almost zig-zag growth habit that provides winter interest.  

It's an "understory" tree, topping out at about 15 to 25 feet.  Redbuds will take part shade and are stunning in woodland or naturalized gardens. There are several cultivars available besides the straight species including Alba, a white version; Covey, a weeping variety; and Forest Pansy, which has purple leaves. Redbuds sometimes needs a more protected site in the Chicago area as they don't like windy, exposed sites. That's especially true for Forest Pansy.

Combining redbuds with ornamental pears can make a fantastic combination, as seen this past weekend at Millennium Park in downtown Chicago.

Redbuds and ornamental pears created this Impressionistic tableau
Sunday on the Chase Promenade in Chicago's Millennium Park.

Here's hoping that the cooler temperatures forecast for this coming week will keep these wonderful flowers on the trees longer than was possible with the magnolias. Their color and exuberance are inspiring!

By Karen Geisler