![]() The root systems are fibrous and thus easy to transplant, though transplanting should be done in the spring and early summer for best root development. It is tolerant of many types of soil and very drought resistant once established. The Amelanchier is native throughout much of the United States and Canada and is hardy from Zones 3-9, making this one of our most important trees in North America besides its edible fruits. It must have been consumed only locally, because even in Liberty Hyde Bailey’s Cyclapedia of North American Plants, 1922, it is noted principally grown for ornamental purposes. With all of the regionalized naming for this fruit bearing tree might indicate its importance to the diets in earlier times. The shadbush or shadblow referred to this fact that this flowering tree bloomed when the shad were spawning. The name serviceberry grew out of sarvisberry. Early settlers to these shores referred to this tasty tree as the sarvisberry in reference to the fruits of the sarvis tree known in Europe as the European mountain ash. In the United States the Amelanchier may be called the Serviceberry, Sarvisberry, Juneberry, Shadbush and Shadblow. The Canadians call the fruits Saskatoon berries. Anything one does with blueberries can be done with serviceberries. If you have never tasted the small round dark blue or red fruits, they taste like blueberries with a finish of currant, to my taste buds. Annually, the Canadians produce 10-12 million pounds of fruit for local markets. ![]() we have not developed the serviceberry as a commercial crop, but the Canadians started cultivating the serviceberry in the orchard in the 1960s to bring this delicious and healthful fruit to market. Its healthful benefits far outweigh our native blueberry. Many trees are already stripped of fruit, what with the wildlife harvesting quicker than one can pick! It is no wonder, too, since the berries are very rich in flavonoids, with one of the highest recorded levels of antioxidants and many vitamins and minerals including vitamin E, calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. It is always a battle to beat the birds and the squirrels to the delicious fruits of the serviceberry, which ripened recently. ![]()
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