The Spring Rose...

To me spring isn't spring until the serviceberry is in bloom. It is also known as the shadwood, sugarplum, juneberry, saskatoon, shadblow, sarviceberry, wild plum, indian plum and last but not least, Amelanchier. I'm sure I've missed a few. Probably the reason it has so many names is because it is a tree if all seasons with edible fruit to boot. It is my favourite native tree, not because I like to eat the berries, but because it is so ornamental with a great form. When the shadblow blooms, the shadfish are running, my father says. The airy flowers are gone too soon, the fruit, if you can beat the birds, taste like blueberries. The native peoples mixed them with fat and dried meats to make pemmican and made arrow shafts out of the stems. The Saskatoons are grown commercially. The fruit was not safe around me when I worked at the nursery- I always made excuses to be around them.

Of course it is in the Rose family....