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Blooms in March and April (depending on location), with delicate white flowers arranged in clusters. Is one of the finest small trees for fall color, with leaves turning vivid shades of red and gold.
How long do serviceberry trees bloom?
Serviceberry reaches a mature height 15′ to 30′ tall with a spread of 15′ to 25′, and has an airy, rounded shape. Its bloom time is shorter than most flowering trees, with blooms lasting just 3 or 4 days but it makes up for the brief show of color in spring by making colorful leaves in the fall.
Is serviceberry a bush or tree?
Downy serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) is a deciduous, small tree or shrub in the rose family (Rosaceae) with a native habitat stretching from Maine to Iowa, south to northern Florida and Louisiana. It can be found throughout South Carolina and is hardy in Zones 4 to 9.
Can you eat the berries from a serviceberry tree?
Serviceberry fruit is delicious straight from the tree and can be used any way you’d use blueberries: smoothies, cobblers, pies, muffins, pancakes, jellies, jams, and ice cream. And don’t forget sorbet, pudding, wine, fruit leather, or syrup.
When should serviceberries be trimmed?
Serviceberries require pruning yearly; late winter or early spring is best before the new leaves appear. Inspect the tree for deadwood, diseased wood, and crossed branches. Use clean and sharp pruners to remove just what is necessary. Leaving some old growth is important, as the flowers form on old wood.
Can you eat a serviceberry?
Food Use. During the summer the ripe serviceberry fruits can be eaten raw, cooked, or dried. The leaves can be dried and used for tea (Kindscher 1987: 28). Many Native North American tribes commonly ate the sweet and juicy ripe serviceberry fruit.
How long do serviceberry trees live for?
Trees grow 20 to 50 feet in height with a variable spread. Plants can be grown single-trunked or multi-stemmed. Downy serviceberry is relatively short lived. It rarely lives longer than 50 years.
Are Serviceberries fast growing?
Serviceberry trees grow fast and can quickly fill a garden.
Why is my serviceberry tree dying?
Planting too deeply, especially in compacted clay, can lead to a slow death of trees.
How tall do Serviceberries get?
Mature Size. The downy serviceberry grows to a height of 15–25′ and a spread of 15–25′ at maturity.
What do serviceberry trees smell like?
Serviceberry offers showy flowers, spectacular fall foliage, and edible, tasty fruits. It explodes in windstorms, its flowers smell like fish, it grows too big, and thousands of its thorny seedlings now consume roadsides and the woods.
Why is it called a serviceberry?
One story is that the first settlers in the New England area often planned funeral services at the same time that the tree bloomed. Its blooming was a sign that the ground had thawed sufficiently to be able to dig graves. So the tree became known as the ‘serviceberry tree. ‘Apr 25, 2012.
What animals eat serviceberry?
Wildlife Plants:: Serviceberry Many birds take advantage of the fruit including chickadees, juncos, bluebirds, goldfinches, orioles, tanagers and more. Mammals make use of the berries as well as the leaves and twigs such as skunks, foxes and chipmunks which eat the berries and deer and elk which eat the foliage.
How do you train serviceberry?
Select a single trunk at planting, if desired, to train the plant into a single trunk tree. Choose the straightest, strongest, central-most trunk and cut the other stems back to the point of origin at the base of the plant. Skip this step if you prefer to enjoy the plant as a multi-stemmed tree or shrub.
Can you keep a serviceberry small?
Whether pruned into a small tree or grown as a large shrub, serviceberry is easy to care for, drought tolerant once established, and a versatile choice for the ornamental garden.
Are Serviceberries healthy?
However, the available literature usually emphasises its important health benefits: serviceberry appears to be an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, and iron, and a relatively good source of calcium, potassium, copper, and carotenoids (e.g. lutein).
What is a serviceberry look like?
The trees have distinctly smooth gray bark and produce showy, star-shaped white flowers with five slender petals in the spring — very typical of the Rosaceae family. The fruits look more like a blueberry than anything else, though usually slightly larger.
What color are ripe serviceberries?
When ripe, they are dark red, purple or almost black in color. They are primarily harvested for juice, jellies, jams and pies, but can also be eaten fresh. Serviceberries are cold hardy to zone 3, adapt to a range of soil types and may have desirable ornamental qualities.
Are serviceberries blueberries?
Serviceberries are a delicious blueberry like fruit that grow on the branches of Amelanchier trees and shrubs.
What can I plant with serviceberry?
Grow serviceberry trees in naturalized groups with other spring flowering trees and shrubs, such as Cornelian cherry and forsythia, or with other berry producing plants to attract birds, such as viburnum and dogwoods.
Do deer eat serviceberry trees?
Serviceberry (Amelanchier) – This native shrub has beautiful white flowers in early spring, and edible berries, but it is usually left alone by deer.
How deep are serviceberry roots?
Root System of the Autumn Brilliance Serviceberry The deepest root depth found was 25cm (less than 10in) with a spread of 198cm (78in) along the row and 150cm (60in) across the row.
