Red Choke Cherry Tree

Red choke cherry tree

This tough, hardy, and colorful ornamental chokecherry is perfect for difficult spots, tolerating heat, cold, wind and poor soil. Each new flush of bright green leaves turns bright reddish purple, providing striking color throughout the growing season.

Is choke cherry invasive?

At least three species of chokecherry grow in Alaska but are not native to Alaska and have become an invasive species. They are commonly planted as ornamental plants but have spread and become established in the wild, displacing native vegetation such as willow that moose prefer.

Are choke cherry trees fast growing?

Soil / Climate: Tolerates many types of soils including sand. Grows best in rich, well drained soils with sunny exposure. Will tolerate shade. Notes: Hardy and fast growing, these trees are useful for their attractive flowers and fruits.

Are red chokecherries edible?

Fruit is edible and is used for jellies, pies, sauces, and wine (CAUTION: seeds are poisonous to humans). Consider the Benefits of Planting Natives!

Should I plant chokecherry?

Planting chokecherries is a good way to help out your local wildlife since birds and other creatures benefit from eating the berries and seek shelter in the shrubs. The chokecherry is a large shrub and can grow to a width of 20 feet.

Can you eat cherries from a chokecherry tree?

This unique fruit can be eaten fresh or cooked, but the pit should never be eaten unless the berries have been cooked or dried. The pit (not the fruit) contains hydrocyanic acid, which is poisonous. The acid in the pit is destroyed when the berries are cooked or dried.

Is chokecherry poisonous to dogs?

Dogs that eat chokecherry seeds or leaves may collapse from the poison, and the seeds can prove fatal. Symptoms can occur rapidly or within a few hours. Chokecherry poisoning has the following symptoms: Red mucus membranes.

How long does it take for a chokecherry tree to produce fruit?

Most plants will not begin fruiting heavily until their 3rd or 4th year. Planting and Spacing: Plant in the spring or fall to allow time for root establishment before summer heat. Spacing will depend on cultivar, but as a general guideline, chokecherry plants should be spaced 5 to 8 feet apart.

Do chokecherry trees smell good?

After the sun warms the chokecherry blooms up a little in the morning I have been delighted by their fragrance wafting through the air. I love to take a deep breath and savor the aroma of their blooms which has a slight hint of honey to it. The scent is heady, delicious, and it tickles my olfactory senses.

Do deer eat chokecherry trees?

Chokecherry is widely regarded as an important wildlife food plant and provides habitat, watershed protection, and species diversity. Fruits, leaves, and twigs are utilized. Large mammals including bears, moose, coyotes, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, elk, and deer use chokecherry as browse.

Do cherry trees leave a mess?

Fruit-bearing cherry trees can be quite messy if you don't pick the ripe fruits right away when they grow. This is because overripe fruits tend to fall into the ground, making the garden messy.

Do bees like choke cherry trees?

Native chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)! Its flowers are chock full of nectar and pollen from March through June, drawing bees as well as butterflies.

Are red chokeberries poisonous?

Chokecherry plants contain the toxin, cyanide, in their leaves and seeds. Horses are commonly found dead after eating chokecherry. Chokecherry fruit is safe for humans to eat.

What happens if you eat a chokecherry?

Chokecherry fruit is definitely edible and not toxic. The seeds are a bit tricky though. Chokecherry seeds contain a cyanide compound, like apple seeds, and they can be toxic if eaten raw in large quantities.

Can you eat chokeberries raw?

Black chokeberry can also be used as an edible fruit crop although the fruit is too astringent to eat raw. The high-antioxidant fruit is used in baking and to make jams, jellies, syrup, tea, juice and wine. Fruit can persist into winter and serves as a food source for birds and other wildlife.

What animal eats chokecherry?

Robins, thrushes, grosbeaks, woodpeckers, jays, bluebirds, catbirds, kingbirds, and grouse eat chokecherries, and so do mice, voles, chipmunks, squirrels, skunks, foxes, deer, bear, and moose.

Do chokecherry trees spread?

The chokecherry is known to create thickets and can choke out other vegetation, making this plant invasive and weedy outside of its native growing zones. For example, Alaska has reported cases of invasive chokecherry harming native plants and wildlife.

Are chokecherries good for anything?

The entire berry is rich in disease-fighting antioxidants, flavonoids, anthocyanins and proanthocyanins, each said to possess a high-capacity value at fighting against allergies, viruses and cancer-causing elements. Chokecherries also contain a high dose of quinic acid which is known to prevent urinary tract infection.

How do you know when chokecherries are ripe?

The bright red fruit are easy to spot and hang in clusters on the trees. Once you start looking for them, you'll start to notice chokecherries everywhere! The berries won't be ripe until they turn a dark red, purplish color, so don't pick them yet! Just make a note of their location for future foraging.

What does a ripe chokecherry look like?

Gather chokecherries when they are fully mature and ripe as otherwise they will be very bitter and astringent. When ripe, the berries will look dark red or purple, or even black.