Aronia x prunifolia 'Viking'
Purple chokeberry
- Height × spread
- 2m × 1.5m
- Position
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Flowers
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This chokeberry is particularly valued for its fruits. These sharp-flavoured purple fruits are high in antioxidants and are used to make juice, or cooked and eaten. This makes an open shrub, sometimes rather leggy, that has domed clusters of white flowers in spring and, with the autumn fruits, striking red and purple autumn colour. The prunifolia forms are natural hybrids between Aronia arbutifolia, the red chokeberry, and Aronia melanocarpa, the black chokeberry.
- Flower colour
- White
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Autumn foliage
- Red-purple
- Fruit colour
- Purple
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Fan
- Height
- 2m
- Spread
- 1.5m
- Season of interest
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
- Flowers in
- Spring, Summer, Autumn
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Seaside garden
- Sun or shade
- Likes full sun, tolerates part shade, tolerates light shade
- Soil type
- Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Very cold to -20C (RHS H6)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Structural, Bird attraction
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring · Outdoors
Apply acidic mulch
Where soil is only just acidic, apply mulch with a high acidic content such as leaf mould, or mulch for ericaceous plants. Alternatively the plant can benefit from a feed of iron supplement (iron chelate) such as sequestrol.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Summer
Summer - early · Outdoors
Feed a general fertiliser
Where plants have moderate needs for nutrients, they can simply be given a general feed, fairly early in the growth season so that the growth has plenty of time to harden off before the cold weather.
Give plants a general boost with the application of a general purpose fertiliser which is spread around the root area of the plant, with amounts as directed on the feed label.
Planting & general
Outdoor planting · Planting
Add root growth stimulant to the planting hole
Mycorrhizal fungi helps roots establish quickly, so they absorb water and nutrients more efficiently. It comes as a powder, granule or gel. Add to the planting hole or container, and to the plant's rootball before planting in the hole. For "bareroot" plants use a gel.
Found in
More Aronia
Aronia arbutifolia
Red chokeberry
Aronia arbutifolia 'Erecta'
Red chokeberry
Aronia melanocarpa
Black chokeberry
Aronia x prunifolia
Purple fruited chokeberry
Aronia x prunifolia 'Brilliant'
Purple fruited chokeberry
Aronia melanocarpa 'Autumn Magic'
Black chokeberry