For a shrub that offers bright fall color, spring blooms and food for wildlife, it’s hard to beat a chokeberry.
“The berries are a useful food for birds, especially in late winter,” said Michael Jesiolowski, Plant Clinic manager of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle. “Chokeberries are native shrubs that offer so much in a home garden.”
Chokeberries are small to tall shrubs that do best in well-drained soil and full sun, although they can tolerate part shade. They are all hardy to Zone 5 (northern Illinois) and Zone 6 (city of Chicago). “They are not super fast growers, but in the right site they can live for many years,” he said.
The red or black berries are extremely astringent (hence the name). The berries can be used with plenty of sugar to make jams and jellies because they are rich in pectin, the fiber that makes jelly set up. Don’t confuse chokeberry with chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), another native shrub. The stems, leaves and seeds of chokecherry are toxic.
All chokeberries are thicket-forming, meaning that they tend to spread by sending up new stems off to the side. “To control a chokeberry’s size, you can just prune out any unwanted side stems,” Jesiolowski said. “At the same time, prune out a few of the oldest, thickest stems inside the shrub to keep it from becoming a tangle.”
Three species of chokeberry are recommended for Chicago-area gardens. Black chokeberry and red chokeberry will be easiest to find in nurseries.
Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa): Native to the Chicago region, this is a dependable small to medium-sized shrub with an upright, mounded habit. It may grow as tall as 8 feet. Black chokeberry has dark green leaves that turn reddish-purple in fall and small clusters of white flowers in spring, followed by glossy black fruit. It prefers slightly acid soil and can tolerate wet sites. Iroquois Beauty™ black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa ‘Morton’) is a relatively compact cultivated variety selected at The Morton Arboretum and introduced through the Chicagoland Grows® Introduction Program. It grows 2 to 3 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide. Viking chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking’) is another cultivar with abundant, slightly less astringent fruit.
Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia): This tall, multistemmed shrub, often 8 feet tall or more, has outstanding red fall color as well as abundant white spring flowers followed by red glossy berries. It is native to areas east and north of the Chicago region. Red chokeberry is a tough, dependable plant with three-season interest and can work well in a naturalized landscape or garden. It tolerates both acid and alkaline soils as well as wet sites and occasional flooding. Brilliant Red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’) is a cultivated variety with especially showy scarlet fall color and long-lasting berries.
Purple chokeberry (Aronia x prunifolia): With lovely red fall color, showy white spring flowers, dark green foliage and deep purple berries, purple chokeberry is another large shrub. Tolerant of a wide range of soils, it’s an excellent choice for massing in low, wet areas in a large landscape. It is native to the Chicago region and is considered to be a naturally occurring hybrid between red chokeberry and black chokeberry.
For tree and plant advice, contact the Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum (630-719-2424, mortonarb.org/plant-clinic, or [email protected]). Beth Botts is a staff writer at the Arboretum.