Quote:
Originally Posted by Spider[_3_]
On 'Amelanchier alnifolia 'Obelisk' ®
*Is* flowering that brief, or could the dry conditions you describe
cause the buds/flowers to abort? I would love to grow Amelanchier in
the near future, so would like to understand a bit more about its habit.
I'd be grateful for your reflections. For instance, are there plenty
of berries despite brief flowering,(which suggests to me that the
flowers persist long enough however apparently brief) or do you feel
there is a poor crop of berries. Do you know which form of Amelanchier
you are growing?
|
I was referring specifically to my Amelanchier alnifolia "Obelisk". It does produce berries. They aren't very nice to eat though, very pippy, a bit like flowering currant berries. I've read that one should use a variety selected for berry quality if you want to eat good saskatoon berries (saskatoon being the common name for A. alnifolia), but such are hard to obtain in UK. Though maybe the berries would be a bit more juicy if I weren't so dry. The birds don't seem to bother very much with them. A disadvantage of alnifolia is that it flowers as the leaves come out, so the flowers are less showy than the usual variety, as well as the flowers being even shorter lasting.
I also have Juneberry A. lamarkii/canadensis (which may be synonyms). Again in a very dry spot, which doesn't work very well. It doesn't get bigger than about 1.5m for me, and suckers a bit. It won't bush out for me, I just get very long straggly bits which I have to shorten or it looks ridiculous. The berries are much nicer to eat than the ones on A alnifolia Obelisk, when I manage to get to a ripe one before the birds, who really like them. I've seen them growing in moist soil in Abingdon, and they grow bushy to 3-4m, a very effective screen while in leaf, and are well covered in really tasty berries.