Johnny Kunen 4/30/18 Johnny Kunen 4/30/18

Service Berry: Amelanchier species

One of our favorite small flowering trees and shrubs, the serviceberry has become a champaign of the native ornamental landscape. It has full season interest, early spring blooms, summer fruit and great fall color, making it a stunning edition to any garden.

Theirs a wide verity to choose from with both single stem and multi stem specimens. A good example of this plant’s diversity is Amelanchier canadensis, of the Eastern United State, which can reach 30 ft at maturity. Another example is Amelanchier alnifolia, the Saskatoon berry of the midwest which in contrast, is a medium sized shrub.

When ever I talk about Amelanchier, I like to explain its three most popular common names.

Serviceberry: derives from the colonial period where early settlers understood that when this plant flowered, the ground was soft enough to bury their dead and perform a service.
Shadbush: derives from Europeans noting that Native Americans used this plants bloom time as a sign that the Shad where soon to migrate up the Hudson.
Juneberry: quiet literally explains when the plant produces berries. Amelanchier flowers early and produces fruit early. The only other native plants producing fruit at this time are strawberries, some verities of raspberry and mulberries.

I have found that due to this species growing popularity, the proliferation of singular cultivars is producing weaker plants. This is most evident when you see thin foliage and more persistent fungal infections. Remember most cultivars are clones, genetically the same — all one plant. This makes them better targets for disease and environmental pressures. That being said the true species is much harder to find but just as beautiful. I’ve never seen one with bad flowers, fruit or foliage.

Amelanchier is also a very adaptable plant, capable of growing in a wide verity of sites and conditions. I’ve always seen them in very particular places in nature, whether it be on steep slopes in the Great Smoky Mountains or on the Mohegan Island off of the coast of Maine — they seem to like cool, moist air, direct sun and cool, well drained soil.

I’d recommend that if you use them as landscape ornamentals — protect the roots, make sure the soil is rich, well drained and fairly acidic. Shade the ground they grow out off but allow the crown of the tree or shrub to receive full sun. This can be achieved by planting lower shrubs several feet in front of your serviceberry, south facing, to create a cool soil surface area. Another option is plant serviceberries on the north facing side of a wall or short structure, which overtime will see the plant grow above and receive full sunlight.

This technique ‘hot up-top, cool down-below’ is great for more northern species planted in climates which can have hot summers, like New York City, the Mid-Atlantic and Coastal New England. American mountain ash, spruces, eastern hemlock and high bush blueberry are some good examples of plants that will thrive under these conditions.

Finally, the Amelanchiers benefit for wildlife can not be overstated. If you want native birds in your yard, this is the plant for you. Plant this near a window for endless entrainment and easy viewing, as birds will come flocking in upon the ripening of fruit in June.

Photo by: Native Beeology 'A species of Andrena visiting a Serviceberry flower'

Photo by: Mackenzie Younger 'Cedar Wax Wings eating Amelanchier berries'

Johnny Kunen 3/22/18 Johnny Kunen 3/22/18

Pussy Willow: Salix discolor

Pussy Willow, one of the first to bloom

Pussy Willow is a highly economic and ecologically important plant. Come late winter, floral markets fill up with its stems which are adored for their almost animal like fuzzy catkins. As mammals we love the fuzz! We love furry things because their cute and they awaken our nurturing side.

Many plants produce hairs, scientifically known as trichomes. In the case of the pussy willow, one of the earliest blooming plants, these hairs serve as a form of insulation. Pussy willow grows naturally in swamps or along bodies of water where high humidity can produce lots of frost that would otherwise kill early season, unprotected flower buds.

Trichomes are found widely in the plant community. Many desert plants use them as protection from heat, while others use them to defend against insects and herbivores like deer, which dislike the feel of the hairs on their tongue and have a hard time digesting them. Some plants even snare insects with their trichomes, like the carnivorous honeydew, which secretes a thick, sticky like substance on tip of each hair, entrapping their victims.

Once the trichomes appear on pussy willows their pollen soon follows. Like red maples, this pollen plays an important role in supporting early season pollinators and since both the red maple and pussy willow enjoy wet areas, we recommend planting them together. Just keep in mind, pussy willow and most willows require full sun, so avoid tree canopies.

GROWING INFO

Height: 6.00 to 12.00 feet

Spread: 6.00 to 12.00 feet

Bloom Time: March to April

Sun: Full sun

Water: Medium to wet

Growing zones: 3 to 8

ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE

Early flowers provide forage for pollinators
Leaves are often browsed by deer and moose
Important wetland species
Provides nesting habitat for water fowl and song birds
The willow family (Salicaceae) supports 456 verities of butterflies and months (Lepidoptera)

The number of butterflies and months the willow family supports is incredible. Here's three of our favorite!

Viceroy Butterfly (which mimics the Monarch butterfly)

Johnny Kunen 3/22/18 Johnny Kunen 3/22/18

Red Maple: Acer rubra

Red Maple, an important spring blooming tree

One of the most important native trees of the eastern United States is the red maple. It can be found growing between Florida to Canada.

The red maple is a versatile tree, adaptable to dry sites but more commonly found in bottom lands, wooded areas with seasonal flooding. These are called red maple swamps.

The horticultural industry has cultivated a variety of red maples, which with consistent, high quality fall foliage, almost rivals its cousin, the sugar maple. The biggest difference between the two trees is that the sugar maple can boast a wide range of warm hues, most notability orange, while the red maple of course flaunts a streprium of red.

Most folks are not aware of this, but maple trees actually flower. Not only do they flower, but they're also some of the first trees to do so. The red maple's flowers, like its fall foliage, live up to its name, as they are red. They also play an important role for early emergent pollinators, native and nonnative. For example many honey bees will forage on this tree's flowers on sunny days between March and April.

Two months may be a long time for species of trees to flower but unlike other maples, red maples have a habit of blooming individually, at different times throughout spring.

While cold weather effects how often pollinators can feed, this tree plays an important role in providing early season energy to strengthen honey bee colonies and support native bee populations.

One of our favorite trees for its spring flowers, great fall color and benefits to pollinators, we highly recommend the red maple for any large-scale landscape.

Photo by: Mackenzie Younger 'Red maple blooming on mountain in April'

Photo by: Mackenzie Younger 'Red maple swamp, upstate New York'

Photo by: Mackenzie Younger 'October Glory' Red maple cultivar on upstate New York farm

Growing info

Height: 40.00 to 70.00 feet

Spread: 30.00 to 50.00 feet (depends on cultivar)

Bloom Time: March to April

Sun: Full sun to part shade

Water: Medium to wet

Growing zones: 3 to 9

ECOLOGICAL Importance

Early flowers provide forage for pollinators
Leaves are often browsed by deer and moose
Seeds are eaten by birds
Red maples play an important role in supporting ephemerals pools. Ephemerals pools are seasonal, wooded ponds or puddles which many amphibians depend on for breeding. By being able to grow in temporary flooded areas, the red maple's canopy provides shade which in return prevents ephemerals pools from drying out to soon.
The maple family (Aceraceae) supports close to 288 verities of butterflies and months (Lepidoptera).