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.
If you purchase low quality, cheep plants, then you are asking for trouble! And you will most likely get what you pay for -- puny plants that have a low survival rate. You will be disappointed and you will actually end up paying more than if you had purchased good plants to start with. In my opinion --
The aronia cultivar that I recommend for fruit production is ‘Viking.’ This cultivar is very vigorous and will eventually be a very large plant. If not pruned to control its height and spread, one plant will grow as large as a common lilac bush and take up at least a 10 by 10 foot area and be at least 8 to 10 feet tall.
Aronia cultivars that have been selected for ornamental landscape purposes, such as Autumn Magic and Iroquois Beauty, are smaller plants that take up much less space but their fruit is also edible. These ornamental cultivars also have better fall foliage color than 'Viking' but they will usually not produce as many pounds of fruit per plant and the individual berries may be a little smaller than those of Viking or Nero (a similar cultivar). However, in the same space it takes for one Viking plant, you might be able to plant two or more of the landscape cultivars. However, the Viking cultivar is my first choice for commercial fruit production in the United States.
* Raintree Nursery is located in Morton , Washington
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| Choose healthy plants from reputable sources |
To purchase aronia plants, click on the photo
or any of the ads to the right. --->
If you purchase low quality, cheep plants, then you are asking for trouble! And you will most likely get what you pay for -- puny plants that have a low survival rate. You will be disappointed and you will actually end up paying more than if you had purchased good plants to start with. In my opinion --
Quality trumps price!
The aronia cultivar that I recommend for fruit production is ‘Viking.’ This cultivar is very vigorous and will eventually be a very large plant. If not pruned to control its height and spread, one plant will grow as large as a common lilac bush and take up at least a 10 by 10 foot area and be at least 8 to 10 feet tall.
Aronia cultivars that have been selected for ornamental landscape purposes, such as Autumn Magic and Iroquois Beauty, are smaller plants that take up much less space but their fruit is also edible. These ornamental cultivars also have better fall foliage color than 'Viking' but they will usually not produce as many pounds of fruit per plant and the individual berries may be a little smaller than those of Viking or Nero (a similar cultivar). However, in the same space it takes for one Viking plant, you might be able to plant two or more of the landscape cultivars. However, the Viking cultivar is my first choice for commercial fruit production in the United States.
To order ‘Viking’ aronia plants, all you need to do is click on any of the ads for aronia plants on this website. Click on the photo of the aronia berries to the right or on the ads for aronia plants (also on the right) and your computer will automatically go the web page where you can order the plants you want.
Three of the sources of aronia plants that I recommend are:
* Hirt’s Gardens is located inWadsworth , Ohio
* Miller Nurseries is located inCanandaigua , New York.
Three of the sources of aronia plants that I recommend are:
* Hirt’s Gardens is located in
* Miller Nurseries is located in
Hirt’s Gardens (formerly Hirt's Greenhouse & Flowers) is one of Ohio
To get the scoops on Hirt’s Gardens, Miller Nurseries, and Raintree Nursery, you can visit Dave’s Garden website and read the most recent reviews written by customers. The plants that I have purchased from these nurseries in the past have always been healthy, high quality plants. But if there is a problem with your order, you should contact the nursery directly to request a refund or a replacement. For a list of other nurseries that sell aronia plants, visit our website Everhart Horticulture Consulting. (We do not sell aronia plants.)
As a consulting business, Everhart Horticulture Consulting provides advice on many horticulture crops including aronia. This includes recommendations and advice on where to buy liners and larger aronia plants, what cultivars to plant, upkeep, maintenance, weed and pest control, irrigation, when to plant, site selection, soil testing, plant propagation, pest management, where and how to plant, mechanized planting, plant spacing, mechanized harvesting, along with where to market, budgets, custom business plan writing, what aronia grower group you might want to join, and everything else you need to know. As a client of our consulting business, you will get help finding answers to any and all of the aronia questions you might have.
We will also provide follow-up support and assistance for as long as you need us at no additional cost to you. Even after I have consulted with you, I will continue to help you and share information with you as long as you freely share information and your experiences with me. We believe in openness, sharing, transparency, and cooperation.
Commercial aronia consultations take at least 4 to 5 hours plus follow-up time. Visit our website and contact us for price quotes.
Please recommend this website http://aroniainamerica.blogspot.com/ to a friend, family member, or anyone who might be interested in aronia.
Please post a comment in the box below. To learn more about aronia, visit our website Everhart Horticulture Consulting.
Thank you,
Dr. Eldon Everhart
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Please recommend this website http://aroniainamerica.blogspot.com/ to a friend, family member, or anyone who might be interested in aronia.
Please post a comment in the box below. To learn more about aronia, visit our website Everhart Horticulture Consulting.
Thank you,
Dr. Eldon Everhart
I live on a tobacco farm in Kentucky and my father and I have been talking about switching the farm over to Aronia Berries. Where could I buy Aronia Melanocarpa "Nero" seeds at? I'm think that a pound of seed would be more than enough.
ReplyDelete‘Nero’ is one of several cultivar of Aronia melanocarpa. Aronia cultivars are propagated by asexual methods (such as cuttings) rather than from seeds. F. W. Schumacher Company (www.treeshrubseeds.com) sells seeds of Aronia melanocarpa but not ‘Nero.’
ReplyDeleteI recall eating choke berries when visiting my grandparents in Iowa as a kid. I currently live in Ecuador, S.A. I would like to try my hand at growing some here. I live in a valley in the Andes at around 8,500 feet above sea level. What is your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
If the berries you ate were harvested from wild plants, then they were probably chokecherries rather than chokeberries, unless they were harvested from wild plants in northeast Iowa. Aronia melanocarpa is on the state endangered species list. Only a few wild plants have ever been documented. They grow in only one small area in northeast Iowa. It is somewhat misleading to say that aronia is native to Iowa. That implies that it grows throughout Iowa and that is not true.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, wild chokecherry plants are very common all over Iowa and are found throughout the United States. For more information about this topic, read the post on this blog entitled “Is it chokeberry or chokecherry?”
If the winter temperatures where you live in Ecuador are cold enough for a long enough time, then you may be able to grow aronia. The average minimum temperature during the winter months will need to be 0 to -5 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. For more information about this topic, read the post on this blog entitled “How far south can aronia be grown?”
The best way to find out if aronia plants will successfully produce berries where you live is to plant a few and see how they grow. Please let us know how they do for you.
Dr. Eldon Everhart
Eldon,
ReplyDeleteCan you give me the pros and cons of trying to grow this shrub in the desert climate of Las Vegas. Any other dos and don'ts you can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Robert L. Davis (702)475-6656 davisr65@unlv.nevada.edu
I will bet you that aronia will not thrive in Las Vegas. The odds are that the winter temperatures are not cold enough for a long enough period of time. Consequently, the plants will not get enough chilling hours to satisfy their chilling requirement. (For more information about chilling requirements of aronia, read the post on this blog entitled “How far south can aronia be grown.”)
ReplyDeleteAs you know, daytime winter temperatures in Las Vegas are usually in the forties to sixties. During the night, temperatures seldom drop below freezing and snowfall is a rare event. The coldest months are November and December. The average high temperature in November is 67 degrees Fahrenheit and the average low temperature is 42. December averages are 58 and 34.
Aronia plants that do not receive the proper amount of chilling hours during the winter will usually leaf out erratically, later than normal, or not at all. They may also have problems flowering and forming fruit.
Dr. Eldon Everhart