Amelanchier canadensis October Flame

Amelanchier canadensis 'October Flame' is one of the best ornamental varieties of Canadian serviceberry with its compact, upright habit and its light, bright, and intense orange-red autumn foliage! It forms a naturally pyramidal and narrow shrub, even without pruning, which is suitable for small spaces and container gardening. In spring, it is covered with an abundance of small, pure white star-shaped flowers followed by edible spherical red and then black berries, called "little pears" in Canada. Its beautiful small, ovate, finely dentate medium green foliage turns into a blaze of crimson before falling to the ground. This variety produces very few fruits in summer, making it more vigorous than other cultivars. This perfectly hardy shrub prefers the large temperature variations of continental climates, which enhance its flowering and colours, and is not suited for shallow soils that dry out quickly. Use it to create beautiful informal hedges or line a pathway in sun or partial shade in deep, moist, and well-drained soils.

Native to Canada and eastern North America, Amelanchier canadensis, also known as Canadian serviceberry, is a sturdy shrub in the large Rosaceae family, resistant to most pests and extreme cold. It has a pyramidal to columnar habit. With medium growth, the shrub will reach approximately 6 m (19.7 ft) in height and 3 m (9.8 ft) in width at maturity. The leaves are deciduous, leathery, elliptical, finely toothed at the edges, pubescent, and 3 cm to 7 cm (1.2 in to 2.8 in) long. The foliage is glossy medium green with a lighter underside, and when young, it is pubescent and tinged with copper. In autumn, its colours are magnificent, with dramatic shades of orange and red. Flowering is abundant in April-May, on bare branches or those already adorned with young leaves (depending on the climate). This serviceberry quickly produces flowers and fruits: plants as small as 30 cm or 40 cm (11.8 in to 15.7 in) high are already capable of reproducing. Encased in a pink calyx, the pretty white flowers with 5 long petals and yellow stamens are clustered along the branches. They are followed by small edible fruits the size of a pea, called pyriddions, which are initially bright red before turning black when ripe. Slightly sweet in flavour, they are perfect for making jam.

Amelanchier canadensis 'October Flame' will fit into any garden, even small ones. Solid as well as charming, this serviceberry grows in any good, sufficiently deep and moist garden soil, in sunny or partially shaded locations. It can be used as a standalone plant, surrounded by perennial flowers and woodland bulbs such as wood hyacinths and daffodils, or as a background plant in perennial borders. It works wonders in informal and countryside hedges, alongside Cotinus, deciduous euonymus, Indigofera gerardiana, spring or Japanese spiraeas, viburnums, Neillia affinis, medlar, cherry, and many others.