Thiessen Saskatoon (Serviceberry) vs Gray Dogwood - TreeTime.ca

Thiessen Saskatoon (Serviceberry) vs Gray Dogwood

Amelanchier alnifolia Thiessen

Cornus racemosa

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2026)

CUSTOM GROW

Thiessen Saskatoon (Serviceberry)
Gray Dogwood

Thiessen Saskatoon is a deciduous shrub that produces delicious edible fruit. It is one of the most productive saskatoon varieties. Its fruit is great in pies, preserves or eating fresh.

Thiessen Saskatoon is popular with U-Picks and home owners because of its taller tree-like shape and larger berries. But it is not the best choice for berry orchards as it is too tall for most mechanical harvesting equipment.

Gray dogwood is a thicket-forming, deciduous shrub with greenish-white blossoms in open, terminal clusters. Young twigs are red and the fruit pedicels remain conspicuously red into late fall and early winter.

Fruit itself is a white, 1/4 in. drupe that usually does not remain on the shrub for long.

Great for naturalizing wild areas, this shrub attracts birds and other wildlife.

Thiessen Saskatoon (Serviceberry) Quick Facts

Gray Dogwood Quick Facts

Zone: 1a
Zone: 4a
Height: 5 m (16 ft)
Height: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Spread: 3 m (10 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: any
Moisture: normal
Moisture: any
Growth rate: fast
Growth rate: slow
Life span: medium
Life span: medium
Suckering: low
Suckering: medium


Fall colour: deep, reddish puple
Berries: blue
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, YT, NT
Native to: MB, ON, QC
Other Names: alder-leaf shadbush, dwarf shadbush, pacific serviceberry, pigeon berry, western juneberry, western serviceberry