Aronia melanocarpa Hugin

Aronia melanocarpa 'Hugin', also known as the black chokeberry, is a recent Swedish variety that stands out for its very compact growth, suitable for small gardens and easily grown in pots. It forms a bush about 1 m (3.3 ft) in all directions that produces clusters of simple white flowers in May followed by dark purple berries, which are edible and highly appreciated by birds. Highly nutritious and rich in vitamin C, the berries also have digestive and antioxidant properties. Its large, smooth, oval foliage is ornamental in autumn when it turns red, yellow, and purple before falling to the ground. It is a very hardy species that can adapt to colder mountain climates or wetter environments. Provide it with a shady location and moist but well-drained, humus-rich, and non-calcareous soil for more intense foliage colouration and abundant fruiting. It is an ornamental, fruit-bearing, and ecological species that complements hedges perfectly.

Originating from swamps and wet clearings in Canada and the northeastern United States, Aronia melanocarpa is a member of the vast Rosaceae family and a distant cousin of roses, plum trees, and brambles. The 'Hugin' variety is a compact Swedish selection that reaches only 1 m (3.3 ft) in all directions. It has a rather slow growth and dense vegetation. Its bark is smooth and reddish-brown. It bears deciduous, alternate, simple, ovate leaves, finely toothed, about 6 cm (2.4 in) long, with a satiny dark green colour. The leaves truly blaze in autumn, when they adopt various shades of orange, copper, deep red, and purple. In April-May, pure white flowers appear, measuring 2 cm (0.8 in) in diameter. Gathered in clusters, they are numerous, fragrant and honey-producing. They give way to clusters of round green-purple fruits that turn black-purple and shiny, while their peduncles turn red. This edible fruiting has a slightly tart taste but is rich in antioxidants, and lasts quite a long time in winter if not consumed by birds.

Naturally resistant to diseases and pests, Aronia melanocarpa is an excellent free hedge shrub. It is hardy, ornamental, and undemanding. While it tolerates the presence of limestone and can adapt to poor soils, it will only reach its full potential in cool, deep, slightly acidic soil. It can be planted alone, in a free or rural hedge, as well as in large shrub beds. To achieve a spectacular effect, plant it in groups of 3 to 6 subjects. This chokeberry can be combined in a hedge that is both beautiful and edible with other shrubs that bear small fruits, have interesting foliage, or produce flowers, such as apple trees, plum trees, and ornamental cherries, deciduous viburnums, hedge honeysuckles, witch hazels, Japanese goumi, anemone trees, hawthorn, sea buckthorn, goji, and blueberries.

Aronia fruits can be consumed fresh, cooked, as jam, or as juice, which can be mixed, for example, with cranberry juice and apple juice.