The Black Chokeberry, Aronia melanocarpa, is a wonderful and easy-to-grow North American native with both ornamental and edible qualities. It's named for the abundant crop of black berries it produces in summer that persist through fall. Many plant it for the birds but people can eat the tart, wine-flavored berries too, fresh off the bush or in jellies and jams. But the fine attributes don't stop with the berries. In spring, abundant clusters of pretty, 5-petaled, 1-inch flowers with white petals surrounding cute pink stamens will be appreciated by the butterflies and beneficial pollinators. Elliptic, 2 to 3 inch long glossy dark green leaves on a mounding shrub 4 to 6 feet tall and wide turn to shades or red and orange with the arrival of cool temperatures in the fall. A versatile plant, Back Chokeberry is excellent for naturalized settings but also tolerating urban settings and pollution well. It thrives in almost any native soil, tolerates cold temperatures down to -40F, loves sun or part shade, and tolerates wet soil and occasional dry periods. An attractive and significantly versatile shrub that can be used to solve difficult soil conditions. What more can we ask for in a flowering fruit bearing shrub? Get all the details below!