Allegheny Serviceberry - Amelanchier laevis

Amelanchier laevis, also known as Serviceberry or Juneberry, is a perennial shrub or small tree native to Michigan and the UP, 15 to 25 feet. The thing about this plant is the berries. They are delicious. Historically they were dried, but they also make great jam. I wouldn't know though, because the birds never leave enough for anything but a quick handful for fresh eating. Did I mention the birds like these? This is one of the top wildlife shrubs of our region.
 
They like medium moisture soil, but the thing that makes them common up here is that they can handle dry soils, even the sandy or rocky soil along the big lakes. Serviceberry thrives in part sun, but does fine in full sun to part shade. It flowers very early with showy white clusters that are also fragrant. Since shrubs like these don't have to spend time regrowing their structure in the spring, they are able to flower in May while the rest of the garden is still shoots. They also flower before being fully leafed out, making them look like an entire tree of flowers. This is very useful to many early-rising native bees.
 
Red berries transition to a ripe purple in June (sometimes July in cold years). The berries are a bit like blueberries in size and taste and have small seeds. Did I mention birds love the berries? This is a must-have for a bird garden. The leaves have good orange to red fall color, and the ridged bark has an attractive look in winter. Serviceberry is a host plant for the Striped Hairstreak butterfly.
 
Please note, we do not currently grow this plant from seed; we source it from a downstate nursery. The nursery has reported that, although they verify their stock to be free of Neonicotinoids, they do use pesticides on their nursery stock. Each gallon pot will contain a 6-12" shrub.
 
We are working on propegating adequate quantities of this shrub from a U.P. seed source so we can offer this plant up to our normal standards. In the meantime, we offer downstate nursery stock because using a native plant to landscape instead of a similarly-raised cultivar will ultimately be beneficial, especially for a long-lived shrub.