Smoky Saskatoon (Serviceberry) vs Bilberry - TreeTime.ca

Smoky Saskatoon (Serviceberry) vs Bilberry

Vaccinium myrtillus

Amelanchier alnifolia Smoky

NOT AVAILABLE THIS SEASON - MIGHT RETURN

COMING SOON

(new stock expected: fall of 2025)

Bilberry
Smoky Saskatoon (Serviceberry)

American Black Currant is a native deciduous shrub known for its clusters of small black berries that ripen in mid-to-late summer. The berries are edible and have long been used for fresh eating, preserves, and baking. They provide food for birds and mammals, and their fragrant spring flowers attract bees and other pollinators.

American Black Currant’s foliage serves as a host plant for butterfly species such as the Green Comma and Gray Comma, and its dense branching offers cover for wildlife. The shrub has traditionally been planted in shelterbelts, riparian buffers, and restoration projects.

Smoky Saskatoon is a large deciduous shrub that suckers and produces edible fruit. Smoky Saskatoons are one of the most productive and widely used Saskatoons and have large sweet berries with good yields.

One of the oldest and first good yielding cultivars, a majority of the commercial saskatoon orchards were based on this cultivar until Northline and other cultivars were introduced.

Smoky has slightly smaller fruit than Northline and a milder taste but is not acidic like Pembina, Thiessen or Honeywood.

Bilberry Quick Facts

Smoky Saskatoon (Serviceberry) Quick Facts

Zone: 3a
Zone: 1a
Height: 0.3 m (1.0 ft)
Height: 4 m (14 ft)
Spread: 0.5 m (1.5 ft)
Spread: 2.4 m (8 ft)
Light: partial shade, full sun
Light: partial shade, full sun
Moisture: normal
Moisture: normal
Growth rate: slow
Growth rate: fast
Life span: medium
Life span: short
Growth form: low growing, clump-forming
Spreading: rhizomes - medium, seeds - medium
Suckering: medium

Toxicity: leaves may be unsafe in high doses

Fall colour: orange to red
Flowers: white or pink, bell-shaped
Bloom time: summer
Berries: round bluish-purple berries, edible
Berries: produces large edible berries great for eating raw
Flavor: sweet
Harvest: late summer to early fall
Hybrid: no
Hybrid: no
Catkins: no
Catkins: no


Native to: AB, BC
Native to: AB, BC, SK, MB, ON, YT, NT
Other Names: common bilberry, dwarf bilberry, low bilberry, myrtille, myrtle blueberry, myrtle whortleberry, whortleberry
Other Names: alder-leaf shadbush, dwarf shadbush, pacific serviceberry, pigeon berry, smokey saskatoon, smokey serviceberry, western juneberry, western serviceberry