Aronia seeds for sale

      Aronia cultivars, such as Viking and Nero, are most often propagated by vegetative methods.  This includes propagation by semi-hardwood and hardwood stem cuttings, layering, and micropropagation.  However, aronia cultivars can also be grown from seed.  This post includes advice about how to grow aronia plants from seeds.  You can either extract seeds from aronia fruit yourself or you can purchase seeds from nurseries that sell them.  We do not sell aronia seeds but this post does include a list of businesses that do.  You can also click on the Amazon ad entitled "Black Chokeberry Tree Seeds" shown in the right column when you scroll down on this page.

How to sow seeds indoors

(Photo from GardenersWorld.com)

How far south can aronia be grown?

      The native range of black chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, extends south into north Georgia at higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. Like most plants, Aronia melanocarpa and its cultivars can be grown outside of their native habitat.  How far outside of their range they can be grown depends on a number of factors.

Southern extent of the native range of Aronia melanocarpa

Is it chokeberry or chokecherry?

      Black chokeberry is one of the common names for Aronia melanocarpa.  The name “chokeberry” can easily be misunderstood or misread as the word “chokecherry.”  Chokecherry is the common name for a different plant -- Prunus virginiana.  In fact, the two plants are only distantly related within the Rosaceae or rose family.  They have some similarities and many differences.  For example, chokecherry has toxicity issues but chokeberry does not. 

Health benefits of aronia berries

      Laboratory tests have show that aronia berries are higher in antioxidants than apples, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, elderberries, grapes, oranges, pears, prunes, raspberries, and other fruits that are commonly grown commercially in the North America.  For example, the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) values for raw aronia berries (chokeberries) is 16,062 compared to 6,552 for raw blueberries.  The bar graph below shows the ORAC values for several fruits.

Aronia plants for sale

      Would you like to buy some aronia plants?  Would you like to plant them in your garden so you can harvest your own aronia berries?  If so, you are not alone.  Start by choosing a reputable nursery or garden center that sells high-quality plants.  Three of the mail-order nurseries that I recommend are discussed in this blog.  (We do not sell aronia plants.)  Please let us know if there are other sources of aronia plants that you like.
 

Choose healthy plants from reputable sources

How to use aronia berries

      You can use aronia berries in many different ways.  You can grow your own aronia plants in your home garden.  The berries will be ripe in late summer or early fall.  Then you can pick the berries and eat them  fresh off the bush either raw or processed in many different ways.
     You can also freeze the berries for later use.  The number of different ways that fresh or frozen aronia berries can be used is amazing.  If you want someone else to do it for you, there are several ads on this website for businesses that sell aronia berry chews, powders, supplements, and dried or dehydrated aronia berries.  When you try these products you may be surprised to find out how easy it is to get the remarkable health benefits of aronia berries in your daily diet.
     To view recipes posted on other websites, click on the photos in this post.


Aronia bread, wine, soap, jam, & hand cream

What do aronia berries taste like?

      Aronia berries and products made from them have a distinctive taste that is unlike any other fruit.  The taste of aronia is a complex sensation in the mouth, tongue, and throat. It is difficult to describe the taste of most fruits including aronia.  Many people describe the taste of aronia berries as a pleasant, distinctive flavor.  If you have an open mind, then you will probably like the taste of aronia.
 

Ripe aronia berries
 August 16, 2006



Wild aronia plants in the US

      After an on-site aronia consultation with clients in Wisconsin, I drove back home to Iowa.  Driving along enjoying the scenery, I remembered that southwest Wisconsin is one of the areas where Aronia melanocarpa is native.  So I started looking for aronia plants in the rapidly passing landscape.  But the identifying characteristics of aronia plants are not distinctive, especially in July.  When viewed from a moving vehicle at a distance, identifying aronia plants was nearly impossible.  I would need to stop the car and get out for a closer search. 

 



Wild Aronia melanocarpa plant in Wisconsin

Grants for specialty crops

     Grants are available to help promote specialty crops such as aronia.  In most states, grant proposals are due on or before the second week in May.  USDA will announce the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, through the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). This is a flow-through program whereby individual states apply for federal funds, which they will use for grants within their states.

Grant funds are available for aronia projects



Where is aronia grown?

     Early in the 20th century, aronia was introduced from the United States into Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia where high quality, larger fruited cultivars were selected.  Thousands of acres of aronia are now grown as a commercial berry crop in Eastern Europe.  Countries with notable commercial aronia production include Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Siberia, and Sweden.  Currently, over 50 percent of the world’s commercial aronia berry production is in Poland.  

Aronia plantation in Poland

What is aronia?

    Aronia is one of the common names used for Aronia melanocarpa.  It is a perennial, deciduous, self-supporting shrub.  Unlike grape vines, aronia does not need trellising.



Dr. Everhart is out standing in the field of aronia 

Where is aronia native?

     The two species that are generally recognized in the genus Aronia are A. melanocarpa, black chokeberry, and A. arbutifolia, red chokeberry.  Aronia melanocarpa (Photinia melanocarpa) is native to the northeastern one-quarter of the United States.  Its native range extends north into Canada and south into the higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains
in north Georgia. 

Native range of Aronia melanocarpa