Viking Black Chokeberry

As low as $49.79 was $59.99
Availability: In stock
SKU
CHKVBK

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

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.

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 beneficial pollinators, bees, and 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. Outstanding, incredibly dark purple berries begin to ripen at that time, too. You'll definitely notice these berries! And you better do it quickly or the birds will snap them up!

By late summer, 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.

As the nights start to cool down, enjoy the spicy fall color of red, purple, and orange-hued foliage. Viking Black Chokeberry is one of the best cultivars available. It's quite simply a hardy shrub that's easy-care and offers so many benefits and seasonal interest.

Planting and Application:

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

Plant several to accent a naturalized area or to create a focal point. Naturalize these durable shrubs where you want to control erosion. Define the edge of a sunny slope or embankment. Not minding some extra moisture, plant these shrubs in your Rain garden or by where the gutters drain.

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 landscaping 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.

  • Showy White Flowers in Spring
  • Four Seasons of Interest
  • Feeds Butterflies & Songbirds
  • Finely Toothed, Glossy, Dark-Green Leaves
  • Edible, Large, Black Berries that Ripen in Late Summer
  • Berries are Shown 344% Higher in Total Antioxidants Than Blueberries
  • Leaves Turn Incredible Orange-Purple-Red Fall Color
  • Use to Control Erosion
  • Modern Selection of Native Shrub
  • Gaining Popularity as a Plant for Commercial Properties

#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. Maintain mature plants with a regular schedule of renewal pruning. Every 3 years or so, remove the oldest, thickest stems out to the ground and allow the younger stems to remain keeping the plants vigorous and blooming and fruiting well. In deer country, always apply a Deer Repellent spray on the first day you plant. Reapply according to the directions. Don't take chances with hungry deer around.

  • Hardy in Full Sun or Partial Shade
  • Can Survive Boggy Soils Near Ponds or Streams
  • Easily Grown in a Wide Range of Soils
  • Seldom Severely Damaged by Deer Browse
  • Prune After Flowering

Aronia is an important native shrub that is rapidly gaining in popularity. It's certainly loved by birds and other wildlife. You'll be fighting design teams across the country for this year's inventory. Please hurry to establish your own native superfruit patch! Order your Viking Black Chokeberry today!

Buying Options for Plants

Nature Hills sells a large variety of plants with several options available. Plants are offered in both potted containers and as dormant bare root without soil. Here is a helpful resource to understand your options as you create a beautiful landscape with help from Nature Hills.

Ever wonder what a larger plant will mean for your landscape? Container Sizes are really all about the age of the plant!

Seasonally, Nature Hills offers hand selected, high quality bare root trees, shrubs and perennials. Bare root plants are sold by height from the top of the root system to the top of the plant. Plants may be taller than the height minimums.

  • Popular sizes of select trees are 1 foot, 2 feet, 3 feet, etc.
  • Popular sizes of select bare root plants is 1 foot, 18 inches, etc.

Nature Hills Container Size by Volume

Keep in mind, specific varieties and different growing conditions can affect the rate at which plants grow. Variations in size may occur.

Young Plants to 18 Months
Size Volume
2"x2"x3" Ranges from .18 to .21 dry quarts / .198 to .23 dry liters in volume
4.5" Container Equal to .65 dry quart / .72 dry liter in volume
Sprinter Pot Equal to .63 dry quart / .69 dry liter in volume
4" Container Ranges from .31 to .87 / .35 to .96 dry liter in volume
6" Container Equal to 1.4 dry quarts / 1.59 dry liters in volume
1 Quart Equal to 1 dry quart / 1.1 dry liter in volume
5.5" Container Equal to 1.89 of a dry quart / 2.08 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x5" Ranges from .8 to 1.1 dry quarts / .88 to 1.2 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x6" Ranges from 1.0 to 1.3 dry quarts / 1.1 to 1.41 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x9" Ranges from 1.1 to 2.1 dry quarts / 1.2 to 2.3 dry liters in volume
4"x4"x10" Ranges from 1.7 to 2.3 dry quart / 1.87 to 2.53 dry liters in volume
Plants 18 Months - 2.5 Years Old
Size Volume
2 Quart Equal to 2 dry quarts / 2.2 dry liters in volume
#1 Container Ranges from 2.26 to 3.73 dry quarts / 2.49 to 4.11 dry liters in volume
5"x5"x12" Equal to 3.5 to 4.3 dry quarts / 3.85 to 4.74 dry liters in volume
Plants 2 - 4 Years Old
Size Volume
#2 Container Ranges from 1.19 to 1.76 dry gallons / 5.24 to 7.75 dry liters in volume
#3 Container Ranges from 2.32 to 2.76 dry gallons / 10.22 to 12.16 dry liters in volume
Plants 3 - 5 Years Old
Size Volume
#5 Container Ranges from 2.92 to 4.62 dry gallons / 12.86 to 20.35 dry liters in volume
#6 Container Ranges from 5.25 to 6.01 dry gallons / 23.12 to 26.42 dry liters in volume
#7 Container Ranges from 5.98 to 6.08 dry gallons / 26.34 to 26.78 dry liters in volume

About Plant Sentry™

Plant Sentry is designed to protect both consumers and the nursery trade from invasive plant pests and diseases. Sites that display the Plant Sentry protection badge are protected from consumers buying and nurseries shipping material carrying invasive pests and diseases.

This proprietary eCommerce software prevents the shipment of a restricted plant to each state. The Plant Sentry system includes a shipment certification program. The Plant Sentry Compliance Officer works closely with NatureHills.com and each nursery or fulfillment center to ensure only compliant plants are sold to customers.

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Shipping

To obtain a more accurate shipment time-frame, simply enter your zip code in the “Find Your Growing Zone” box to the right. Our plants are grown all over the country and lead time on items may be different because of this. Once your order is placed, you will also receive the specific shipment time-frame information as part of your order confirmation. Once an item ships, you will receive shipment notification and tracking numbers, so you can follow along while your plant travels to your doorstep. We use FedEx, UPS, or USPS at our discretion.

Due to winter weather we have put a hold on shipping to the areas shown below in grey. You can still order now and we will ship the plant to you during an appropriate time for your zone.

*If you have found your zone already, it will be highlighted in the table below.
Color Zone Times
3 Spring 2019
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Shipping Rates

At Nature Hills we handle, package and ship the products you order with the utmost care to ensure healthy delivery. Shipping and handling charges are calculated based on the tables below. Please note that some items include an additional handling surcharge, these will be noted on the item's product page.

From To S&H
0 - 19.99 24.99
20 - 49.99 29.99
50 - 69.99 34.99
70 - 99.99 39.99
100 - 129.99 44.99
130 - 149.99 48.99
150 - 150+ Approx 28%

Click here to see our full rates

PLANT HIGHLIGHTS

Viking Black Chokeberry Is Suited to Grow in Zones 3-9
Growing Zones 3-9
More Information
Brand Nature Hills' Choice
Botanical Name Aronia melanocarpa 'Viking'
Type Deciduous
Mature Height 3 - 6 feet
Mature Spread 3 - 6 feet
Sun Exposure Full Sun
Soil Moderate to Moist
Moisture Moderate
Growth Rate Medium
Flower Color White
Foliage Color Green
Fall Color Orange, Red, Burgundy / Purple
Pollinator Friendly Yes
Fruiting Time Fall
Pruning Time After Flowering
Fragrant Yes