Red Chokeberry
Aronia arbutifolia
White spring flowers, brilliant red-orange fall foliage, and red berries that hold into winter. Excels in wet, poorly drained spots.
Typically 1 quart–3 gal · $17–$85 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
Persistent red berries that last through winter combined with some of the best fall foliage color of any native shrub. a three-season performer that's also deeply deer resistant.
Red chokeberry is a three-season shrub that rarely gets the recognition it deserves. In spring, small white flowers attract early native bees just as they're emerging. By fall, the persistent red berries light up the shrub in clusters that last well into winter, contrasting against brilliant red-orange fall foliage that's among the finest of any native shrub. The berries technically belong to the birds. Robins and waxwings work through them, but they stay on the plant long enough to provide weeks of winter color even after some are eaten. It handles wet, poorly-drained soils exceptionally well, making it ideal for low spots, rain garden borders, and stream edges where you need multi-season interest and wildlife value.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown red chokeberry propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 5–8 ft · 36–60 in wide
- Bloom time
- Spring
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 4–9
- Family
- Rosaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America
Care notes for red chokeberry.
Full sun to part shade in moist, well-drained to wet acidic soils. Tolerates clay and occasional flooding. Spreads by root suckers to form colonies. remove to keep contained. Little pruning needed. Remove oldest stems every few years to rejuvenate. Virtually pest-free.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside red chokeberry.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.