Viking Black Chokeberry

Look closely around your city or town, and you'll likely start noticing Aronia bushes. They've got bold fall foliage and striking round, black berries.

No wonder professional landscape designers are "ga-ga" for this compact shrub for park plantings and commercial properties. Time-tested Viking Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa 'Viking Black') gives you attractive white flowers, wild fall color and edible superfruit in the fall.

Yes, this multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub is the actual source of Aronia berries. They cost about $12 at the organic food store frozen.

Grow your own, and turn your land into an Edible Landscape. You get all the benefits of an ornamental shrub, with a productive harvest.

The show starts in spring. Glossy, dark green foliage fills out the spreading shrub in a full, vibrant display.

Soon, bloom clusters of white flowers open above the verdant foliage. Don't bother trying to count all the butterflies that visit, you'll lose track in the first few days.

Let Viking Black grace your landscape all growing season as an attractive texture plant. The flowers will be developing into your nascent harvest.

As the nights start to cool down, enjoy the spicy fall color of red, purple and orange-hued foliage.

Outstanding, incredibly dark purple berries begin to ripen at that time, too. You'll definitely notice these berries.

Viking Chokeberry produces larger, sweeter, and more prolific berries. Use it in tough spots where you need to control erosion. It's tolerant of periodic drought and resists all but heavy deer pressure.

Viking Black Chokeberry is one of the best cultivars available.It's quite simply a hardy shrub that's easy to grow and offers so many benefits and seasonal interest. Order yours today!

You'll be fighting design teams across the country for this year's inventory. Please hurry to establish your own native superfruit patch.

How to Use Viking Black Chokeberry in the Landscape

Tart chokeberries (please call them aronia!) are a very rich source of antioxidants and phenolic content. In fact, research shows that they produce more than blueberries!

Get your health on with smoothies; make mead; bake into crisps, cakes and bars; or create savory meat sauces. Freeze them and sell them at farmer's markets!

Like a dry glass of red wine, Aronia berries are filled with tannin. Experiment with sweeteners, and you may find the taste grows on you.

Plant several to accent a naturalized area or to create a focal point. Some people even use these as an orchard plant for their fall fruit.

Berries a bit much for your taste? No problem, just let your local birds enjoy the yearly harvest.

Naturalize these durable shrubs where you want to control erosion. Define the edge of a sunny slope or embankment.

Create an eye-catching mass planting, or long, low hedge. Create a bold display with a mass planting by spacing them 24 to 30 inches apart on center.

They'll add ornamental appeal repeated in garden borders. Run them along the length of your front walk as part of a very modern foundation planting.

In a hurry? Plant closer together. You'll measure from the center of one to the center of the next.

Boost your food security with Edible Ornamentals like Viking Black. Add Serviceberry, Hazelnut, Plum and Elderberries to your landscape, as well.

Nature Hills is proud to serve the needs of homeowners who want to get the most from their property. Be sure to study our blog posts on small space gardens and plants for pollinators.

#ProPlantTips for Care

Get the most fruit with full sun, or give them partial shade if you have to. They need at least four hours of sunlight a day.

These adaptable plants take occasional wet soil, but can withstand periodic drought. For the best performance and fruit display, give your plants a medium amount of water on a regular basis.

Mulch a three-inch layer over the top of the roots to keep them cool and moist. Pull the mulch back from the stems several inches.

Prune after the flowers are past. Remove crossing or damaged branches, tip pruning right above an outward-facing bud at a 45-degree angle.

In deer country, always apply a Deer Repellent spray on the first day you plant. Reapply according to the directions. Don't take changes with hungry deer around.

Aronia is an important native shrub that is rapidly gaining in popularity. It's certainly loved by birds and other wildlife. Order your Viking Black Chokeberry today!