Amelanchier laevis
In early spring, before leaves appear, smooth serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis) delights us with its showy white flowers. This stunning spring display, along with its versatility and tolerance for urban conditions, has made this small tree our most popular species offered through our Neighbourhood Tree Giveaway program. Since the planting program started 15 years ago, we have delivered nearly 500 smooth serviceberries to urban home properties.
Easygoing and Adaptable
Smooth serviceberry can be grown as a larger multi-stemmed shrub, or as a small tree with a single trunk if new stems at the base are clipped back. You can plant it in sand, loam and clay soils and it grows well in full sun or full shade and everything in between. Growth is narrow and upright, reaching five to eight metres in height.
Benefitting Early Pollinators
The nectar of smooth serviceberry’s five-petaled flowers is one of the first food sources for early pollinators, like queen bumble bees and mourning cloak butterflies. As blooms begin to fade, the leaves start to unfurl. Often bronze in colour, they turn green as they develop.
By mid-summer, the edible berries ripen into a deep red or purple. It may be hard to get to these berries before the birds do – watch for cedar waxwings, northern mockingbirds and American robins feasting from the branches.
Inspired to Plant
Plant smooth serviceberry with sugar maple, red oak or alternate-leaved dogwood. Add lower shrub layers of eastern ninebark or smooth arrowwood, then add some ground cover and additional spring blooms such as spotted geranium, wild columbine and heart-leaved foamflower to create your own stunning grouping of native plants.