Amelanchier alnifolia Smoky

Amelanchier 'Smoky' (sometimes spelled Smokey) is a selection of alder-leaved shadbush with particularly tasty fruits and good productivity. Its medium-sized berries contain a very sweet, flavourful flesh that combines the taste of apple and blueberry. Sweet and delicious, they can be eaten fresh, juiced, and to make delicious pastries, jellies, and vitamin-rich jams. An excellent alternative to the blueberry bush in ordinary soil, this American fruit bush also offers delightful white flowers in spring and beautiful autumn colours. It deserves to be planted more in our gardens.

Native to North America, Amelanchier alnifolia is a sturdy bush of the large Rosaceae family, spared by most pests and resistant to extreme cold. In nature, it can be found along riverbeds as well as in much less favourable environments, such as rocky slopes exposed to the wind. It is a plant that prefers slightly acidic to neutral, loamy and moist soil, and it proves to be very adaptable to relatively dry and hot summers once established. This Amelanchier alnifolia species is one of the few in the genus that can tolerate reasonably calcareous soils. To obtain a good harvest, it is advisable to provide it with fairly fertile soil and water as needed.

The 'Smoky' cultivar, discovered in the wild in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century, was selected for its productivity and the taste of its fruits. It has a bushy habit, rather upright. With relatively slow growth, the bush will reach an average height of 2.75 m (9 ft) and a spread of 2.25 m (7 ft 5 in) at maturity. Flowering is abundant in April-May, at the tips of bare young branches or those already covered with young leaves, depending on the climate. Flowering and fruiting is rapid in this shadbush. The 2 cm (0.8 in) diameter white flowers with 5 petals and yellow stamens are grouped in clusters along the branches. They are followed by edible fruits the size of a blueberry, globose, known as pomes, carried in pendant clusters. The ripening of the fruits takes slightly longer than in other varieties, allowing for a staggered harvest over a month, starting from the end of June in an average climate. The 1.4 cm (0.6 in) diameter berries are initially dark pink and then become blue-black when ripe. They can be eaten fresh, cooked, or dried. Their shelf life is limited, but freezing and canning allows for reserves to be consumed during the winter. Recent analyses have confirmed their high content of antioxidant molecules, vitamins, and minerals. A single plant can yield up to 7-8 kg of fruit depending on the soil fertility.

The young spring leaves are reddish. They turn a lovely green-blue colour and then yellow or even orange in autumn before falling. Measuring up to 5 cm (2 in) in length, they are ovate, with serrated edges, and alternately arranged on the branches. This 'Smoky' variety resists powdery mildew well. While a single plant is sufficient to obtain a harvest of up to 7-8 kg of fruits, it is recommended to plant two of them for optimal fruiting.

The 'Smoky' Amelanchier is a fruit bush full of appealing qualities: sturdy, undemanding, and charming, it provides tasty and highly nutritious fruits. It is a mystery why it is still rare in our gardens. It definitely deserves a place in a country, free, or fruit hedge, even in a small-sized garden. It also works well as a background plant in perennial beds. It pairs perfectly with ornamental apple and cherry trees, deciduous spindle trees, Japanese quince Cido, spring spireas, hawthorns, medlars, prunus, and many others. Create a fruit hedge by combining it, for example, with the Myberry (Lonicera kamtschatica Sweet Myberry), garden blackberries, currants, gooseberries, cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon), raspberries, blackcurrants, Aronia, Japanese goumi, black elderberries, and more.