Good'ay, Does anyone know where to get service berry bushes that produce highly edible berries (edible raw) in Ontario? I'm just east of Toronto. I've seen these at local nurseries: -amelanchier canadensis -amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' But I hear that they're good as ornamental bushes, but not good for eating - especially raw. I'm open to ideas: - bare root mail order - road trip to another part of the province -Ben
I don't know that either of those would automatically be any less palatable than any others. Especially since the first name refers to an entire species, with all of its variation rather than a uniform clonal cultivar. In addition the name Amelanchier canadensis has a history of being muddled in gardens, misapplied to multiple other species. Perhaps most of the time you will actually be buying something else under the name, with somewhat different characteristics than actual A. canadensis might be expected to have.
This is helpful. Thanks. According to the nursery, those two (vague) serviceberries that they sell are best suited for jams. One thing I could do is wait till next june and try to taste serviceberries in nurseries around the region to see if any are acceptable. It'll be a bit if a wild goose chase.
You might instead want to look for named cultivars selected specifically with fruit in mind such as A. alnifolia 'Regent', ordering them in if necessary.
Get out to a (very) small farming community and ask people where you can find saskatoons. Then dig one up and take it home. If no response: ROAD TRIP! Go to Manitoba where everybody knows what saskatoons are. Cheers. Postscript: seems like every spring I find another little copse of them here in the Yukon.
Thanks Pinenut. That's a good idea. Ron: Your suggesion of named cultivars selected specifically with fruit in mind was bang on. Thanks. I'd been having trouble finding reliable information on which cultivars are actually good for eating raw, hence this posting. I searched for amelanchier alnifolia 'Regent', and found a nursery that used to sell it. Rats. They do sell a couple of other varieties which they claim are good raw: They're calling the first one a Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia): http://plants.connon.ca/11100004/Plant/37/Saskatoon And the second one Standing Ovation Saskatoon Berry (Amelanchier alnifolia 'Obelisk'): http://plants.connon.ca/11100004/Plant/4294/Standing_Ovation_Saskatoon_Berry Maybe I've hit paydirt? I'm probably more hopeful than I should be. http://plants.connon.ca/11100004/Search/Results?keyword=amelanchier
