North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Lucky Pittman <lucky.pittman@murraystate.edu>]

At 08:44 PM 5/20/2007, Doc L wrote:
> > I don't know if you have the same problem I have with 
> Serviceberry but the fruit is attacked every spring by Quince Rust 
> here in SoCar.  This is the first year in seven that they haven't 
> been attacked and totally ruined by the rust.
I've seen severe rust infestations on the 'Autumn Brilliance' 
cultivar - leaves, twigs, fruit - though not in my orchard.  I have 
the strains of the Gymnosporangium fungus that infect apples, quince, 
and hawthorn - I've seen leaf &/or twig lesions on all three species 
here - but never have I noticed anything on any of the serviceberries.

The most productive serviceberries I have are a couple of row-run 
seedlings of Timm & Success that I bought($1 each) from the 
now-defunct Bear Creek Nursery, back in '96.  Granted, they've been 
in the ground longer than any others, but they're just so very much 
more vigorous and productive than the other A.alnifolia varieties 
I've planted(Theissen, Smoky, Martin, Forestburg, etc.).  Other than 
'Jennybelle', which is an A.obovata selection, all of my alnifolia 
types are well under 5 ft tall, 10-12 year after planting.  They tend 
to be suckering, spreading plants - the Timm&Success seedling clumps 
are probably 4 ft across, with high stem density.

There are a couple of nice little A.laevis(Allegheny serviceberry) 
trees in town at the public library, that fruit heavily every 
year.  I find their fruits to be juicier than those of my alnifolia types.
I see that 'tastes like a blueberry' thing in all the catalogs.  I 
don't agree.  I guess they taste like...a serviceberry; they're 
softer than blueberries, and as Naomi said, if you hit the seeds just 
right, you get an almond undertone.

Bill  MacKentley, at St. Lawrence Nurseries, in Potsdam NY maintains 
perhaps one of the largest collections of juneberries that I'm aware 
of, though he doesn't offer all of them every  year.
http://www.sln.potsdam.ny.us/juneberries.html
I see that they're not offering 'Lee #3' this year.
Canadian source?  I can only offer DNA Gardens as the place I'd start 
- http://www.dnagardens.com/catalogue.htm#saskatoon - but for all I 
know they're Canada's answer to TyTy(but, I hope not).






> Well, I must admit this thread is a little disappointing, since I'd been
> thinking that Serviceberries (Juneberry, Saskatoon, Shadblow, etc.)
> might be interesting to try. Somewhere, I read that they taste rather
> like a blueberry (which I love), but that they don't require acid soil.
> I was wondering how they'd do in Nebraska, and which varieties might be
> recommended for fresh eating (shrubs, by preference, though I might be
> able to handle a small tree).
>
> Well, all fruit has problems, I suppose. I don't want to hijack this
> thread, but I'd be interested in other comments about Serviceberries in
> general.
>
> Bill
>
> --
> It's not true that life is one damn thing after another. It's the same
> damn thing over and over. - Edna St. Vincent Milay
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Lucky Pittman
USDA Cold Zone 6
AHS Heat Zone 7
Hopkinsville, KY