Juneberry

Juneberry also know as serviceberry, Saskatoon, shadbush, and several other common names is an amazing tree/shrub that produces delicious reddish purple berries in late spring. There are roughly 2 dozen different species of juneberry native to the continent of North America and I am not exactly sure which species our seed stock came from. Each species has different characteristics making them better suited to various roles and environments. Some species of juneberry grow to tall trees while other remain short and shruby. Berry size, flavor, and productivity can also vary. The seeds that this year's trees came from were multi stem, under 15’ tall (Although perhaps they have not reached their max size yet) and absolutely loaded with large and delicious berries. Some juneberry are impacted by rust and fire blight as they are in the rose family however these shrubs had minimal damage during berry season. Later in the season there is some rust pressure on these plants.  

I can not say enough good things about this plant. After my first experience with juneberries they quickly replaced blueberries as my second favorite berry after raspberries. It is also interesting to compare them to blueberries because the fruits are similar in some ways but juneberry are much easier to grow. Both berries are round and roughly the same size. To me the taste of Juneberry is like a mix of blueberry and apple with a hint of strawberry. Juneberry will grow in a wide range of soil conditions unlike blueberries which prefer a rather narrow band of conditions. Juneberry thrive even in urban environments with compacted soils and pollution. That said they will always do better with loose well draining soil and mulch. 

Despite the name "juneberry" we find that these plants are ripe in May here in southern VA.