Amelanchier alnifolia GreatBerry Fruity - Saskatoon

Amelanchier alnifolia GreatBerry Fruity 'Kojuaagr' is a robust variety that forms a small upright tree of 4 m in height with multiple trunks. This fruit tree, native to North America, has long been appreciated for its edible, tasty, and highly nutritious fruits, known as 'saskatoon' by Native Americans. Following its white spring flowering, clusters of dark and sweet fruits appear, with a flavour reminiscent of blueberries, apples, almonds, and hazelnuts. They are harvested in July and August in this non-early variety and can be consumed fresh, dried, in jelly, jam, or in desserts and pastries. Amelanchiers are easy-to-grow and highly rewarding shrubs or small trees. They make excellent bushes for informal hedges, hedgerows, or rural settings.

Originating from North America, from Alaska to Maine, the Amelanchier alnifolia is a sturdy shrub from the large Rosaceae family, largely spared from parasites and resistant to extreme cold. In nature, it is found along watercourses as well as in much less favourable environments, such as rocky slopes exposed to the wind. It thrives in rather acidic and cool soil, proving adaptable and capable of adjusting to relatively dry and hot summers once established. To achieve a good harvest, it is advisable to provide it with fairly fertile soil and water inputs if necessary.

Its habit is bushy and branched, taller than wide. With a rather slow growth rate, the shrub will reach about 4 m in height with a spread of 2.5 to 3.5 m at maturity. Its bark is grey to brown, sometimes tinged with red. Smooth when young, it becomes rougher with age. The abundant flowering occurs in April-May, at the end of bare young branches or already adorned with very young leaves, depending on the climate. Flowering and fruiting are rapid in this amelanchier, around the age of 3-4 years. The white flowers with 5 petals and yellow stamens, 2 cm in diameter, are clustered along the branches. They are followed by round, edible fruits resembling blueberries, called pomes. They turn almost black when ripe, in June. Their pleasantly sweet and aromatic flavour and juicy pulp make them suitable for consumption fresh or cooked, in jam or jelly. Recent analyses confirm their high content of antioxidant molecules, vitamins, and minerals. Saskatoons have a limited shelf life. They can be eaten fresh, frozen, dried, or preserved for later use. A single plant is sufficient to obtain a harvest ranging from 3 kg up to 7-8 kg of fruits depending on soil richness, but it is often recommended to plant two plants to optimise fruit formation.

The young spring leaves are fuzzy, becoming tougher over time. They display a lovely bluish-green hue, turning yellow in autumn before falling. Measuring up to 5 cm in length, they are entire, ovate, serrated at the edges and arranged alternately on the branches.

Amelanchier GreatBerry Fruity is a sturdy, undemanding fruiting shrub as charming as it is deserving of a place in a rural, informal, or fruit hedge. It can also be used in the background of perennial or lower shrub borders. It pairs beautifully with ornamental apple and cherry trees, deciduous euonymus, Japanese quince, spring spireas, hawthorns, loquat trees, prunus, and many more. Create a fruit hedge by combining it, for example, with mayberry (Lonicera kamtschatica Sweet Myberry), garden blackberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon), blueberry bushes, raspberry bushes, Aronia, Japanese silverberry...

The name 'Saskatoon', an anglicisation of a word from the Cree people's language, can be translated as "the fruit of the tree with many branches". This fruit gave its name to the Canadian city of Saskatoon.