Aronia Plants Often Called Chokeberries, Their Characteristics and Uses

Introduction

All natural pesticide free aronia berries chokeberries, also known as chokeberries, are loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. These small berries have a flavorful, tart taste. Use aronia berries in baked goods, juices, wines, other beverages, and snacks. They can be added to fruit salads and baked with pies, cakes, muffins. Some also use aronia berries to make jelly yogurt, or ice cream.

The aronia black berry bush is often used as an ornamental shrub in gardens and is also grown for fruit production. The variety called Autumn Magic while not suitable for fruit production but makes a nice ornamental shrub for the garden. For fruit production the varieties Viking and Nero are the plants of choice.

Plant characteristics

The glossy bright green leaves are quite showy and emerge in April. They are 1-3" long, they are usually free from disease and pest problems. The leaves catch the sunlight quite nicely. The aronia shrubs have small black glands along the upper surfaces of the midribs of the leaves. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the plant. A spectacular white flower display is produced in the spring. The flowers set nicely against the lustrous foliage; the whitish- pink flowers grow in loose clusters of up to 8. Opening in mid-May, these clusters can reach 2" in width. The plant leaves darken as the season progresses. They produce glossy, pendulous clusters of black fruit suspended beneath lustrous green leaves in the late summer and fall. The purplish-black fruit is about 1/4" in diameter, hanging down in clusters of 10 or so. The berries are usually ready to harvest in mid September. The fall colors are excellent with colors ranging from crimson to wine-red to apricot, the leaves are splendid in late October and November.

Growing conditions

Seemingly phased by nothing, This shrub will tolerate almost any growing condition: swampy ground, dry sandy soil, clay soil, drought, salt, and pollution. It has a good root system and is sometimes used to stabilize banks to help keep them from eroding. It is needs good light but will tolerating partial shade but becoming leggier and under poor lighting conditions is sometimes affected by mildew.

Aronia is an extremely adaptable shrub for almost all seasons. Its pollution, drought, insect and disease tolerance are all reasons why it is favored to become and more and more popular plant as the health benefits of its fruit become more widely known. It has a high tolerance to varying conditions from boggy areas to drought, soil compaction, salt and mine spoils make it an ideal plant in parking lots, along roadsides and highways,.

Fruit production

From a fruit producing standpoint Viking and Nero varieties are very heavy producers of fruit yielding 20 pounds or more per plant making it a profitable crop to grow for fruit production. It was listed in "The Top Ten-Plus-One Shrubs for Minnesota", Minnesota Horticulturalist 106(6)152-154, June-July 1978.

Medicinal uses:

Aronia melanocarpa has a high concentration of polyphenols and anthocyanins, stimulating circulation, protecting the urinary tract, and strengthening the heart. The fruit is also nutritionally beneficial. Aronia berries have an antioxidant content three times the level of blueberries, and contain a high concentration of anthocyanins, which have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Some diabetics use aronia berries to help regulate blood sugar, and studies show they may be helpful in lowering weight and cholesterol. Aronia berries also contain many vitamins. Ongoing studies also suggest that Aronia may include compounds that fight cancer and cardiac disease.

Summary

Aronia Plants Often Called Chokeberries can grow under many different conditions and are useful as an ornamental shrub for the garden or as a an ideal plant in parking lots, along roadsides and highways. It is also a profitable fruit producing plant.

Purchase your pesticide free aronia and blueberries from (Blueberry Croft Farm and Nursery). We understand both the theory and practical applications of growing aronia and blueberries. The farm is a reputable source for quality aronia and blueberry plants. Over 30 varieties of blueberries are grown and sold. Viking aronia plants are available for sale. Purchase your plants and get more information from http://www.blueberrycroft.com/. Get free S/H on orders of $75+. © 2011 May be reproduced in entirety with live link

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Popular Indoor Plants for Tropics

When gardening is pursued indoors as a hobby, it is known as indoor gardening. Indoor gardening can be a leisure-time pursuit or a main hobby for plant lovers. Indoor gardening may be practiced as a practice of horticulture therapy where therapeutic benefits of indoor plants are exploited to the benefits of inhabitants. When a garden is created indoors, it is called an indoor garden. An indoor garden may created indoors of residential as well as commercial buildings. That is, an indoor garden may be created inside residential buildings like individual houses, private villas, and apartments or inside a commercial establishment such as a hotel, hospital, and a business office.

As mentioned earlier, indoor plants are used to decorate interior spaces of residential as well as commercial buildings. Hence great care must be taken while arranging indoor plants so that aesthetics of interiors must be enhanced to the maximum point. While arranging indoor plants, they may be placed either in suitable combinations or as a single specimen piece. For a large room, group of bold leaved large plants must be placed against a big wall. Single plant specimens are most suitable for small rooms. Tall plants like philodendron and rubber plant are best suited for rooms with horizontal lines whereas tall monstera plants and large ferns are most suitable for rooms done in contemporary style with simple straight lines. Ficus, diffenbachia and dracaena are best suited for traditional rooms with ornamental furniture. Plants with red, pink and orange flowers like amaryllis or chrysanthemum are most suitable plants for rooms with white or light colored background. Plants with bright colored foliage like coleus and caladium may also be suitable for decorating such rooms. White flowered plants are best for rooms with dark background while plants with variegated foliage like caladium may also create similar effect.

As far as placing of ferns are concerned, a group of different varieties of ferns should be grouped together to get the best visual effect while in case of begonias, a group of different varieties of begonias should be grouped together to get the best visual effect. While grouping indoor plants for dark corners of the rooms, height of individual plants must be taken into consideration. Tall plants are arranged at the back; medium tall at the centre; and dwarf trailing ones are arranged at the front. While grouping of plants in centre of a hall or room is concerned, tall plants must be placed at the centre; medium tall plants arranged around tall plants; and dwarf ones along the edge. Best plants for such arrangements are potted chrysanthemums; potted asters; potted coleus and caladium. Best indoor plants for table decorations are plants grown in terrariums and glass cases; plants grown in bottles; bowls; dishes and troughs; and aquarium cases. Indoor plants may also be used for creating miniature landscapes inside the houses. By using suitable combinations of foliage and flowering plants miniature landscapes such as woodland scenes; desert scenes or formal garden scenes can be created.

Indoor plants can be displayed in beautiful combinations on floors; window sills and window ledges; tables and desks; book cases and book shelves; shelves and trolleys; window boxes and planters and on plant stands placed on the floor.

An attractive display of indoor plants may be created by keeping pots inside a beautiful metal or red basket. Color, texture and size of the containers should harmonize with those of the plants and the setting of the room. Living and dining room spaces can be divided with beautiful planters having gorgeous foliage and flowering plants for enhancing overall aesthetics of the room.

Roby Jose Ciju, Horticulturist and Agribusiness Consultant from India; Owner of Agrihortico CPL at http://www.myagrihortico.com/

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