Feb 12, 2019
Updated: Jul 14, 2020
Looking for a small sun or shade tree that does it all? Native serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis) is a fantastic choice. Serviceberry can be a small single stemmed tree or a vase shaped shrub. It loses it leaves during winter but more than makes up for it throughout the rest of the year.
Serviceberry attracts oodles of native pollinators. It’s also easy to grow. We planted two beneath huge mature trees in deep shade and two as street trees in heavy sun and clay – all good. Once fall arrives, serviceberries explode with yellow and orange color beaming even in heavy shade. That’s certainly a plus.
If you are looking for a small shade tree, serviceberry is a terrific native alternative to Japanese maples and kousa dogwoods.
From the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, click here.
About the connection between fish of the Chesapeake and names of trees, check out this short post from Civic Works in Baltimore.