Amelanchier alnifolia Saskablue

The Amelanchier alnifolia 'Saskablue' is a variety of Amelanchier with a very high yield, starting from the second year of cultivation. The bush develops a wide and rounded, regular crown, making it pleasant when planted in isolation to enjoy its ornamental and fruit qualities. The spring flowering is white and abundant, and the berries have a beautiful red-blue colour with a typical aromatic taste. The foliage turns yellow before falling in autumn. The fruits are harvested from mid-June or late June. Very fruity, they combine sweetness and juiciness with an intense almond aroma and a taste of wilder, greener blueberries.

Native to North America, from Alaska to Maine, the Amelanchier with alder-like leaves is a sturdy bush of the large Rosaceae family, spared by most parasites and resistant to extreme cold. In nature, it can be found along watercourses and in much less favourable environments, such as rocky slopes exposed to the wind. It prefers slightly acidic and fresh soil, but it is adaptable and can withstand relatively dry and hot summers once established. To obtain a good harvest, it is advisable to provide fertile soil and water if necessary.

'Saskablue', with relatively slow growth, develops a wide and rounded habit and reaches a height of 2.5m to 3m and an equivalent width. Its bark is grey to brown, sometimes tinged with red. Smooth when young, it becomes rougher over time. The flowering is abundant in April-May, at the end of the young bare branches or already covered with very young leaves, depending on the climate. The flowering and fruiting are rapid in this Amelanchier, starting from the second year. The white flowers with five petals and yellow stamens, 2cm in diameter, are gathered in clusters along the branches. They are followed by edible and globular fruits resembling blueberries called pomes. They are red, blue, and almost black when ripe between mid-June and late June. 'Saskablue' develops fruits with a more characteristic and typical taste than 'Martin', which are also juicier and fruity, as a noticeable fruity acidity adds to the high sugar content. A "green" taste that is almost absent in the 'Martin' variety. They can be consumed fresh or cooked, as jam or jelly. With a high nutritional value, recent analyses confirm their high antioxidant molecules, vitamins, and mineral content. Saskatoons have a limited shelf life. They can be consumed fresh, frozen, dried, or preserved later. A single plant is sufficient to obtain a harvest ranging from 3 kg to 7-8 kg of fruits depending on the soil fertility, but it is often recommended to plant two plants to optimise fruit formation.

The young spring leaves are hairy and then become tougher. They have a beautiful green-blue colour and turn yellow in autumn before falling. Measuring up to 5cm in length, they are entire, oval-shaped, with dentate edges, and arranged alternately on the branches.

The 'Saskablue' Amelanchier is a sturdy fruit bush, as charming as it is undemanding, which deserves a place in a country, free, or fruit hedge as well as in isolation, given its harmonious growth. It is also used as a background for perennial or lower shrub borders. It pairs well with ornamental apple and cherry trees, deciduous euonymus, Japanese quince, spring spireas, hawthorns, medlars, and many others. Create an edible fruit hedge by associating it, for example, with the May berry (Lonicera kamtschatica Sweet Myberry), garden blackberries, currants, cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon), blueberries, raspberries, Aronia, Japanese goumi, and black elderberries.

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