Aronia melanocarpa Revontuli Hedger

The Aronia melanocarpa Revontuli Hedger is the first dwarf variety of the black fruit-bearing Aronia, making it an excellent candidate for small gardens and low hedges. Its white, decorative, and nectar-producing spring flowering is followed by black and edible fruits, which have a flavour somewhat reminiscent of blackcurrants. It is at the end of the season that one appreciates this Aronia the most: crowned with orange and reddish-purple, it is adorned with generous clusters of black berries hanging from red petioles which are highly coveted by some birds. Its cultivation presents no difficulty in ordinary soil in a sunny position to enhance its colours.

Native to Canada and the northeastern United States, the Aronia melanocarpa is a distant cousin of roses, plum trees, and brambles, a member of the vast rose family. The 'Revontuli Hedger' is a recent horticultural variety obtained in the USA by Proven Winners. This cold-resistant shrub reaches about 1.20m (4ft) in height with a spread of 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35in). It is fairly slow-growing and has an upright, well-branched habit. Its bark is smooth, reddish-brown. It has beautiful deciduous foliage. Its simple, ovate, finely indented, alternating leaves are about 6 cm (2.4 in) long, and a satin dark green. They adopt a range of truly blazing shades of orange, copper, crimson red, and purple  in the autumn before dropping off. In April-May, white flowers with pink stamens about 2 cm (0.8 in) in diameter appear. Gathered in corymbs, they are very numerous, slightly fragrant and nectar-producing. They give way to clusters of round, greenishpurply-green berries that become purple-black and shiny, while their peduncles turn red. Their edible fruit have a slightly tart flavour and persists quite deeply into winter if not eater by birds.

Naturally highly resistant to diseases and pests, Aronia melanocarpa Revontuli Hedger Proven Winners is an excellent shrub for free-standing hedges due to its hardy, favourable to biodiversity, ornamental, and undemanding characteristics. It can be planted individually, as a fruit or rural hedge, as well as in shrub borders. To achieve a spectacular mass effect, plant it in groups of 3 to 6 specimens. This Aronia can be paired with other small fruit-bearing shrubs or blossom trees such as apple, plum, and ornamental cherry trees, deciduous viburnums, hedge honeysuckle, Goumi du Japon, May berry, sea buckthorn (Hyppophae rhamnoides), Goji, and blueberry bushes.

The fruits from the Aronia can be consumed fresh, cooked, as jam, or as a juice that can be mixed, for example, with cranberry juice and apple juice.