Serviceberry In Bloom

 This week in Duluth the Serviceberry trees burst into bloom. Also known as Juneberry trees, this large shrub/small tree has a distinguishing characteristic of all the flowers on the tree burst into bloom at the same time. Unlike apple trees or plum trees or lilacs, the flowers don't open gradually. It's all or none with serviceberry trees. The name serviceberry comes from the time before modern cemetery habits. When people died in the winter, they were put in cold storage or the corn silo to wait until the ground thawed. When the serviceberry bloomed, everyone knew it was now time to dig that grave, bury the body, and hold a service for the deceased. Serviceberry trees look similar to wild plum except plum thickets are so thick a person can hardly walk through. Serviceberry thickets have more space for a person to get around. Serviceberry fruit in the fall. The fruits are edible and prized by goldfinches, brown thrashers and blue jays.