CatherineT: Sorry, to arrive at this post a little late, but I thought you might be interested in the Amelanchier arborea, which I fell in love with after reading "Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs". I'll plant it this weekend, when I have finally determined where to site it. In addition to this source, you might also check the link below, which regards this tree/shrub as a "plant of merit". Once you link to the suggested site at the bottom of this posting you will find possible sources for purchase of any plant you wish to add to your garden. Since you have purchased several of the "Autumn Brillance" varieties, I thought you'd enjoy the link below as well. Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance' Plant of Merit http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B240 In addition to this web site, you might also explore the web site of the Morton Arboretum located in Lisle, Illinois - west of Chicago. Their main web address is given just below. Look under "Plant Information" for their "Tree & Shrub Selection Guide" and the "Sterling Morton Library". If needed you may email the reference librarians for further information, suggested readings, sources of plant material, etc. And, of course, if you're in the neighborhood, plan a nice visit at this 1600 acre treasured gem. The Morton Arboretum's main web site. http://www.mortonarb.org/ A map of the Arboretum. http://www.mortonarb.org/maps/wholemap_rollovers.html The Sterling Morton Library. http://www.mortonarb.org/visitor_information/smlibrary/smlibrary.htm The same goes for the Missouri Botanical Garden located in St. Louis. The informational "search" called "PlantFinder" is the best that I've encountered to date. This treasured gem is worth at least a 1.5 day visit. Here's their main web page. http://www.mobot.org A virtual tour of this garden. http://www.mobot.org/hort/tours/tourintro.shtml The link to their fabulous searching tool. http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Search.asp Hope you get to enjoy both of these places sometime in the near future. Best wishes, Bill Here is a link that might be useful: Amelanchier arborea - Plant of Merit

It did work -- no rust this year! Don't make the mistake I did and chop the infected branches off. It's not necessary. Just spray according to directions, let the tree grow through summer and drop the leaves in the Fall; clean them up and start over in the Spring!

Here some input from Steve in WA I think Amelanchier fruit quality must vary a lot with soil and climate changes. Some of the same cultivars they are talking about here I find quite delicous when eaten fresh off the bush, including both Smokey and Regent, although I never thought of Regent as particularly large, nor Smokey, they were adequate in size. My descriptions of their flavor and quality would be quite different. Cooked however, I have never found Amelanchier to be that great. If she was talking about it cooked, I would agree with the bland assessment. Even mixed with acidic fruit or using the more acidic Northline, which I recently cooked a bunch of to see if the higher acid made much of a difference, result was...slightly better perhaps but still bland. Mixed with other fruits like raspberry or cherries... assessment is a bit better but the other fruit would taste better on its own. The only mealy textures I encounter are in buggy fruit, seedy and dryish failing fruit perhaps, under-ripe berries, or some unselected poor eating types around in the wild...stuff that is not at all like Smokey. I would not rate Smokey as good or as big as Martin and Northline, but it is a quite acceptible good eating cultivar. Mine is doing particularly well this year and loaded.

just cut them flush to the ground.. and apply a stump killer and forget about digging them out ... the digging is where the cost is ... if you hire it out ... and most problems with it being hard to plant after grinding.. is trying to grow plants in wood grindings.. rather than removing them [more cost] and planting in fresh soil .... you have plenty of space to plant two other similar sized trees ... maybe a nice japanese maple ... and... ???? .. im at a loss.. maybe a second JM ... lol ... below is a link to look at the types available ... mail order ... start small.. and your costs will be substantially lower ... you are probably borderline z6 out near GRapids ... but i would stay within z5 tolerant plants .... because ma nature can be a witch in MI .. in winter ... you know what i mean ... when i bought my first house.. i was all into saving the garden history of the house.. 5 years later.. i got rid of the last freaking nightmare the prior owner planted.. why it took me 5 years.. in hindsight.. is beyond me ... if you dont like them.. just be done with them .... lifes too short ... call miss dig.. before any significant digging.. so as to be careful .. http://www.missdig.org/contact-us.html ken note under the big green box.. there are multiple pages https://www.coniferkingdom.com/maples-acer/ your next best planting time in MI is sept ... section one on timing ... https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub