Aronia bushes, also known as Black Chokeberry bushes, are native flowering and fruiting deciduous shrubs with a long history of use here in the US! We know that the name Chokeberry is not very appealing, but the fruit can be a bit astringent and some say it resembles the taste of red wine. It can have some serious pucker-power! But the health benefits and goodness in those tart fruits are mind-boggling!
Aronia plants make killer landscape plants with super glossy leaves all season long. Offering multi-seasonal interest with gorgeous clusters of white spring flowers, glossy and colorful fruit, incredible fall color, and persistent and ornamental fruit that adds winter interest (unless the birds carry them all away first!)! In fall, they burst out into shades of red, purple, and orange putting on quite a show.
Why Aronia Bushes?
- Outstanding multi-season landscape ornamental
- Very adaptable and hardy
- Wide variety of forms to fit your unique landscape
- Incredible superfruits reduce inflammation in the body and are nutrient-packed
- Relatively pest-free shrubs!
- Native in the upper tier of states
- An incredible boon to pollinators and birds!
Types of Aronia Bushes
Both types of Aronia have gorgeous flowers, handsome textured foliage and incredible fall color, plus all the easy-going low maintenance and adaptable nature they’re known for!
Red-Fruited
The red-fruited Chokeberry bushes include Red Chokeberry Bushes, and Upright Red 'Erecta' is a form with more vertical growth. Both have beautiful white flower clusters and also feature clusters of bright red Aronia berries that persist into the winter! As always, these shrubs end the growing season in a flourish of beautiful orange and red fall color!
Black-Fruited
The black-fruited varieties are prized not only for the great landscape value, but more recently everyone has discovered the amazing health benefits of the fruit! The black-fruited Chokeberry bushes that are available include the native melanocarpa!
Try a compact Autumn Magic or Viking that has great fruiting capabilities, the low-growing Iroquois Beauty or the groundcover Low Scape Mound or Groundhog.
There’s even a non-fruiting ornamental Low Scape Hedger® Chokeberry that’s all flowers and fall color - but no fruit! Just in case you want all the ornamental perks plus add some shrubs for boosting the pollination of your other Chokeberry!
Homegrown Superfruit - Health Benefits Galore!
Perfect for healthful eating and cooking! Aronia berries resemble blueberries in size, and they are born in clusters. These self-fertile plants are pollinated by bees, and butterflies and are fantastic pollinator resources and great wildlife shrubs.
The beauty of Aronia berries is they all ripen at the same time so they can all be harvested at once before they begin to shrivel! Harvest nutrient-rich Chokeberries in late summer through fall (in most areas) when the berries are plump and dark-colored. Harvest the fruits as whole clusters just before they start to show signs of shriveling.
The fruits have been tested as having incredible amounts of anthocyanins, and the highest amounts of antioxidants of any fruit tested. The antioxidant levels are more than 340% higher than blueberries! Antioxidants aid in eliminating inflammation in the body, and research has shown that antioxidants may help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.
The health benefits from the fruit are amazing and Aronia berries are being used in many interesting new ways! You can reap their benefits fresh, dried, and sweetened, or in juices and concentrates. Use them fresh (or fresh frozen) whenever you can - as you would a blueberry. Add them to fruit salads, baked in cookies, pies, or other confectionery while they are available. Throw them in the freezer to add to smoothies or baked goods, or in baby food preparations. Chokeberries can even be made into preserves, and even made into healthy smoothies!
Chokeberry Bush Care
Aronia shrubs are most desirable because they are wildly adaptable to sunlight amounts, and tolerate almost all kinds of soils, even those that don't drain well. Hardy enough for USDA planting between zones 3 to 9, these flowering shrubs offer unique beauty all year. Highly adaptable, some are moderately tolerant of partial shade, but you’ll get a lot more fruit in full sun than shade though.
Flowering and fruiting on last year's wood. Prune late winter/early spring by removing a few of the oldest thickest stems down to the ground leaving the younger thinner stems in place for flowers and fruit production.
- Chokeberries grow well in full sunlight and partial shade
- Prefer moist, well-drained soils and are very adaptable to a wide range of soil types
- Aronia bushes do well in a soil pH of 5.6 to 7.5
- Tolerant to drought, soil compaction and salt
- Prune late winter/early spring
Boost your garden’s visual impact and your family’s health with Chokeberry bushes from Nature Hills Nursery!
Wildlife Food and Shelter
Boost the biodiversity, food resources and shelter for pollinators, birds and wildlife in your area by planting a few Aronia bushes! The spring flowers are typically pink buds that burst into white blossoms with pinkish highlights and they’re incredible pollinator plants that are a boon for early emerging bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. In fact, native Aronia are larval host plants for 29 species of moths and butterflies!
Aronia is an excellent wildlife plant, as it will attract Deer and Rabbits to your property. The fruits are eaten by birds such as Grouse and Prairie Chickens! Birds use these as shelter and nesting, plus they forage for caterpillars to feed their chicks!
Use the attractive Chokeberry bush as an attractive ornamental plant in gardens, alongside walkways, or to enhance a natural landscape! Plant a few extra for yourself and for your backyard visitors and become the neighborhood hot spot! Groupings or rows become shelterbelts, habitats and butterfly buffets!
Once you read all the health benefits from this amazing superfruit (for you and all your visitors big and small), you will want a steady supply growing in your own backyard! These are perfect ornamental edible landscaping shrubs that you and your wildlife will adore all year long! Make your landscape do more for you than look pretty!
Check out all the Aronia Chokeberry bushes that are available now at NatureHills.com today and get growing your own healthy superfruits!
Happy Planting!
