Common Name : Juneberry

Latin Name : Amelanchier

Description : Many old-timers remember picking juneberries in the wild. Most wild juneberries have disappeared, possibly due to farm chemicals or the deer infestation, which is all the more reason to plant domesticated varieties in the yard to revive the tradition.

Although blueberries are impossible to grow in our area, at least until you get to the acid soils east of Fosston, juneberries will thrive throughout the Red River Valley and surrounding regions. The juneberry’s flavor is more fruity than that of a blueberry. The flesh of the fruit is made crunchy by small seeds. Juneberries make excellent pie, jam or syrup. Canadians in the prairie provinces grow juneberries commercially. Perhaps one day we will follow suit.

Juneberry are a useful shrub as well. They make an upright oval, and can range in height, depending upon the variety, from five to ten feet. Most alluring is the fall color, which can be a bright orange, even in the alkaline soils of the valley.