I’d rather be gardening

I don’t know about you, but now that spring is really here, if I have a choice between writing about gardening and gardening, I’ll choose gardening. So I don’t have a lot of time to write this blog or my column right now.

But I thought I’d share some interesting links–after all, you have to come inside sometime. The NY Times ran an article today about the late spring we’re having and how because so many things have been delayed, many species that usually bloom sequentially will bloom all at once. I can’t wait. And I’ve been following a really interesting blog called Beautiful Wildlife Garden written by a group of wildlife gardeners from all over the country. Somehow they all seem to get great pictures of the wild animals in their gardens.

I’ve GOT to get my cold-weather vegetable seeds in.

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.