Digging deeperPlant Library

Description:

A compact shrub with glossy dark green leaves, showy white flowers in spring, large black berries, and good red fall color; suckers; a great choice for massing or grouping

Ornamental Features

Viking Chokeberry features showy panicles of white flowers with brick red anthers at the ends of the branches in mid spring. It features an abundance of magnificent black berries from late summer to late winter. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The glossy oval leaves turn an outstanding red in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Viking Chokeberry is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It is a good choice for attracting birds to your yard. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Suckering

Viking Chokeberry is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing

Viking Chokeberry will grow to be about 5 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It is an amazingly adaptable plant, tolerating both dry conditions and even some standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in clay soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.