Amelanchier
Amelanchiers are ideal plants for any garden, undemanding, they have beautiful spring flowers, often combined with copper young foliage. Followed bu purplish black fruits in early summer, attractive to birds and one can make preserves from the fruit. Many also have attractive autumn foliage colours of yellow, orange and red.
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They are mainly plants of North America, with just one species native to Southern Europe (Amelanchier ovalis) and one from China (Amelanchier asiatica) and one (Amelanchier lamarckii) which has become naturalised in Europe and is not known in the wild in the USA but also naturalised in parts there. The real home of Amelanchiers is North America where one or more species can be found in every province of Canada and every state in the USA.
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The Chinese and European species are readily identifiable but the North American species are closely related and can be quite difficult to identify in many instances. The Flora of North America recognise 18 species. A difficulty in identification in the wild is in the ways they can reproduce, sexually by cross pollination, mostly within the species but can hybridise with other species in the vicinity. Many of the species also reproduce asexually as apomicts (will breed true by seed, Amelanchier lamarckii is a prime example and why it is so readily available to purchase).
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Although there are nomenclatural and identification difficulties with the species, there is a good selection of cultivars which are vegetatively propagated by nurseries that give reliable performance in the garden and can be highly recommended.
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CULTIVATION
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Amelanchiers in the wild grow on poor soils so all will adapt to growing on a range of soli types successfully. Flowering and autumn colour are much better if growing in an open sunny position, although light shade is tolerated. Most are best grown as multistemmed shrubs but if a small tree with a clear stem is what one is looking for, Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Robin Hill', Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Ballerina' and Amelanchier laevis 'R.J.Hilton' make the best choices as being more vigorous than most.
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They are very efficient in extracting nutrients from the soil, so apart from an initial feed in the spring for the first couple of years, will not need further applications. As plants age growth slows down so some judicial pruning can be carried out to rejuvenate. Reducing branches to side shoots and some thinning of branches can be carried out, followed by a spring feed of a general fertiliser.
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GALLERY COMING SOON
