The reason we chose to share this plant in this month’s issue is because, at the time of writing (beginning of May), they’ve begun to pop their flower clusters in the nearby wooded areas and look beautiful. They are really a welcomed sight to anyone who’s still jaded by this year’s weather. ANY sign of spring was a welcomed one, given the cold weather that had lingered a little too long for most of our tastes. In truth, the blooming of the Chokecherry in the woods is always a welcome sight. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in creating our ornamental horticultural masterpieces that we forget to enjoy the nature around us. This is a great reminder of that. Prunus virginiana is native in almost every state and province in North America, which tells you something about its ability to adapt to various conditions. While it is typically found in dryer, or at least very well drained soils, it can also be found in heavier, clay soils. One of the most impressive feats of adaptation is the wide range of heat and cold it will tolerate (think Northern Canada to Southern Tennessee into Georgia). Though not as tall as P. serotina, Chokecherry can reach into the fifty to sixty foot range, in a woodland setting. If acting as a pioneer species in a more exposed site, it tends to stay in the twenty to thirty foot range, becoming a multi-stem, giant shrub. When looking at more mature Cherries in the woods, there is a distinct difference between that of Chokecherry barks and that of Wild Black Cherry. Wild Black Cherry tend to be blocky, chunking off to show orange highlights below, while Chokecherry is much smoother, sometimes a shiny, deepbrown with incredibly prominent white horizontal lenticels. Like all members of the Roseaceae family, Chokecherry can be equally plagued by disease and insects/pests including Black Knot, Fireblight, a number of leaf feeding pests, and the occasional, heavy infestation of Eastern Tent Caterpillar. But, before you go scratching your head trying to figure out why we would spend an entire article talking about a neat woodland tree that may perform poorly as a landscape plant, rest assured, there is hope! Sometimes, plants develop genetic variations that change the way the plant appears, or grows. Many of those times, we plant nerds relish these abnormalities as prized cultivars – even if we can’t explain why the plant behaved this way. Like Maples, members of Roseaceae will every now and then have a seedling that produces heavy amounts of Anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is a molecule used in defending pest attacks and is produced by nearly all plants, but rarely seen by our eyes as continued on page 30
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The Growing Concern | June 2018 | 29