Chokeberry ‘Morton’ (Iroquois Beauty)
* Common name: Black chokeberry Iroquois Beauty(TM)
* Botanical name: Aronia melanocarpa ‘Morton’
* What it is: A multi-stemmed native flowering shrub that gets clusters of small white flowers in May that lead to black berries in fall that birds love. You’ll get fruit with just one plant, but several increases production. Foliage is glossy green in summer, turning to bright red in fall.
* Size: This variety from the Chicagoland Grows program is more compact than the species, growing only 3 to 4 feet tall with a 5- to 6-foot colonizing spread.
* Where to use: Flowers and fruits best in full sun but also does well in part shade and in both dry or wet soil. Compact enough for use around foundations. Ideal for a bird garden or along property borders as a fruiting hedge.
* Care: Improve soil with compost before planting. Keep well watered the first year until roots establish, then water needed only in bad droughts. No fertilizer needed. No pruning needed so long as size is OK. If pruning needed, do it sparingly at end of winter.
* Great partner: Dwarf goldenrod in sunny spots; golden reblooming daylilies in part shade.
I have 5 iroquois chokeberry in full sun, growing great. On year three of there planting, with full leaves and ripe black berries a deer ate them down from 3 ft. to 12 inch. any hints on how to prevent this?Thank you, John R. Shumway, Jr.
John,
You could keep deer-repellent sprays on the plants, especially heading into winter (or all the time if the plants are eaten year round). It’s best to rotate different repellents so the deer don’t get used to any one. There are lots of them available commercially.
A more effective approach is to protect the plantings with cylinders of fencing — either tall enough or skinny enough that deer can’t jump in. The problem with that is it takes away from the ornamental effect of the chokeberries. On the plus side, sometimes deer will get discouraged and go elsewhere for food if you use fencing long enough for them to get into a new foraging habit. And sometimes they’ll stop picking on plants once the wood gets older and less tender. What you never know for sure, though, is that once you remove fencing, it’s possible for deer to return and chew everything back down in a single visit. That’s why an 8-foot-tall fence around the whole yard is really the only (almost) guaranteed method of stopping deer.
thank you , john sumway jr