McKenzie Aronia Berry
McKenzie Aronia Berry
Species: Aronia melanocarpa
History: McKenzie was created by the USDA who, in 1976, planted several seedlings of the variety to evaluate its performance. It was named 'McKenzie' in honour of its first planting site in North Dakota, possibly named after McKenzie County specifically. The variety was officially released in 2008.
Why We Grow It: McKenzie boasts vigorous growth and good production, reliably producing firm blue-black fruit that is tart with an earthy taste. The berry clusters are easy to pick and have a wide range of uses!
Fruit Specs
Fruit Specs
Recommended Use: Fresh eating, baking, cooking, jams, jellies, sauce, juice
Fruit Size:
Storage: Keep about a week in the fridge
Harvest: August
Growing Specs
Growing Specs
Canadian Hardiness Zone: 4
Soil Preference: Adaptable to most soils except for shallow chalk or very boggy conditions
Flowering Time: Middle
Bloom Colour: White
Pollination Requirements: Self-pollinating, this variety will produce fruit without a different Aronia variety but will produce more and better fruit if one is present
Sun/Shade Requirements:
Partial shade to full sun (approx. 6-10 hours of sun daily)
General Growth Habits:
Shrub reaches 1.5-3m tall, vigorous with a round and upright growth habit, hardy, produces good crops. No notable diseases. Harvest August, but fruit sweetens if left on the bush longer.
Shipping vs. Pick Up
Shipping vs. Pick Up
CLICK HERE to see how shipping compares to pick up.
Shipping: Every year we ship thousands of trees across Canada (except BC due to CFIA regulations). We carefully bag roots in damp sawdust, then box them and send them out via courrier. CLICK HERE to see our shipping policy.
Pick-up: We also have thousands of trees picked up from our nursery each year. The pick-up options is free, though you must wait until you have been emailed a confirmation that your order is ready to pick up, which will have further information such as hours, locations, etc. We really appreciate if you can make an appointment to pick up, then we can be as organized as possible during our busy season.
Size at Purchase
Size at Purchase
Aronia berries are divided into the following grades:
- 1 year plant - 15-40cm
- 2 year plant - 30-60cm
- 3 year plant - 50-80cm
There is some overlap in size since we are also taking the age of the plants into account. Some older plants may not have put on quite as much vegetative growth but will have larger root systems.
All of these heights exclude the roots since seedlings and some berries will often have a lot of root growth but relatively little vegetative growth (ex. our Shagbark Hickories seedlings are often 5-15cm above the soil but will have roots that reach 20cm+ in length).
Not all of our berries and seedlings will be available in all of these grades since growth rate can vary significantly across species and even varieties. While we remain competitive in our plant size, it's also worth noting we don't use synthetic chemicals to push vegetative growth, therefore you may find conventional nursery stock larger in some instances comparatively.