Late summer in black and white (and gold)

In the twenty years since I started gardening seriously, I don’t ever remember such a summer for wild fruits–such abundance. The birds can’t manage to eat them all. The branches of the black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa–above) are bent down from the weight of the fruits. Elderberries and grey dogwood berries (next two pictures) actually remain ripe on the bushes instead of being snatched by catbirds and robins and jays at every opportunity. There’s a continual screech of catbirds as they dive-bomb into the elderberry and raspberry bushes.

And the plums! In the past, each tree has ripened maybe a dozen plums, which were devoured unseen during the night. But this year there are untold numbers of fruits, slowly, teasingly, turning from green to yellow to gold and soon to red and then purple. We may actually get some this year. I’m told they’re very good. (If there are any other devotees of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House books out there, you surely remember a scene in which Laura and her Ma pick and preserve wild plums. It’s probably this species she’s describing.)

Each year, goldfinches arrive in my garden in late summer. These tiny beams of light rear their nestlings late in the season and depend on the seeds of wild flowers to feed them (and, I suspect, on the multitude of pollinating insects that still swarm over the perennial beds), so we always see them just as the perennial sunflowers begin to open and the Rudbeckias begin to ripen seeds. Right now I can’t walk out the back door without disturbing at least a dozen of them feeding in the perennial garden. They squawk loud in irritation and take off, like flashes of sunlight, for the shelter of the hemlocks across the yard. Look closely among the Rudbeckias:

 

How about growing this: Aronia

Aronia is a genus of native shrubs that includes two familiar species (or species that should be familiar, because they’re gorgeous, wildlife friendly, and carefree): Aronia melanocarpa (black chokeberry) and Aronia arbutifolia (red chokeberry). The common names refer to the color of the fruit of the respective species. I grow both. Red chokeberry is perhaps a little more demanding in terms of site–it does best in full sun. Black chokeberry does well as long as it gets at least a couple of hours of sun, although the more sun, the more fruit. Both species are considered to be wetland plants, although both do just fine on my very dry site.

Aronia is a member of the rose family (Rosaceae), as are so many of our most ornamental plants. You can see it in the simple, five-petaled flowers, which are small but lovely and lend grace to the early spring garden:

You can also see it in the fruits, which look like tiny (1/4″) apples. Right now they are just beginning to show color;  in a few weeks they will be midnight black:

The orange leaves give a preview of the lovely fall color. As the photo shows, many shrubs lose some lower leaves when their fruit ripens–the plant is putting so much energy into seed production that it must sacrifice a few leaves. Those leaves usually turn the color of fall.

Aronia berries are the latest superfood, full of antioxidants and other good stuff. They have been popular in Europe as a health food for some time, and the news is beginning to reach the U.S. media. As a result, growers are starting to produce the fruits commercially; cooperative extensions are putting out information for growers, and growers’ associations are being formed.

I originally planted aronia, as I do most shrubs, for the birds, and the birds do like the fruits. The fruits are edible to humans, although don’t eat them raw–the plant’s common name, “chokeberry,” describes the extremely astringent taste. To use the fruits, you need to cook them, preferably along with other fruits that provide some sweetness. Like crabapples, aronia berries have lots of natural pectin, so they lend themselves to jam making. Last season I made a delicious jam out of aronia berries, plums, and peaches.

Plant an aronia, or two or three. They’re lovely, easy to care for, environmentally friendly, and well-behaved. The health benefits are just icing on the cake.