The Bradfords around town have been in full bloom for a while at this point: they were opening up in late February. My blueberries are blooming now and my aronia bush has been in bloom for a while, as well.
The aronia is interesting. I got it because the juice is commercially available--meaning at some level it's palatable--and I was swayed by nursery descriptions of it being sweet. There is a hint of sweetness, but a lot of astringency. The only way I've managed to make it work is to put the berries in with cranberries for sauce; I have served a mix of cranberry and aronia berry sauce at Thanksgiving a couple of times.As can be seen, the berries from last fall are still on the bush: I didn't even pick very many of them last fall, because I think I'm pretty much done with aronia. The birds didn't even take them. I tried one a couple of days ago and it's about the same: slight sweetness with a barrel full of astringency. I have never successfully eaten one raw. I always spit them out.
However, it does sucker a little and the flowers are nice and are also pleasantly fragrant. So it's not a total loss.
For now, spring is here. Next week, it might leave for one or two fateful days.
