Saskatoon Berries: Tough as Nails (as this Zone 2 Grower Explains)

Wondering about fruit to grow in a cold climate?

Today we head to Alberta, to find out how to grow saskatoon bushes. Arden Delidais grows in Zone 2—and doesn’t get any winter dieback on her saskatoon berries.

Delidais’ orchard and winery, DNA Gardens, has a number of cold hardy crops including saskatoon berries, apples, plums, rhubarb, currants, and haskaps.

Saskatoon bushes (Amelanchier alnifolia) are native to North America. (South of the border you might hear them referred to as juneberry or shadbush.)

Delidais tells Steve and Donna about:

• How to prune saskatoon bushes
• Saskatoon varieties
• Saskatoon pests and diseases
• How to propagate saskatoon berries
• How to use saskatoon fruit

If you’re looking for more on saskatoons, here’s a guide to growing them. 

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What is Food Garden Life: Helping You Harvest More from Your Edible Garden, Vegetable Garden, and Edible Landscaping?

Want to grow your own food but need creative ideas so you can get the most from your space and your growing zone? Our passion is the edible garden.

We help people grow food on balconies, in backyards, and beyond—whether it’s edible landscaping, a vegetable garden, container gardens, or a home orchard.

There are many ways to approach edible landscaping. Find out how to harvest enough fruit, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Get top tips for exotic crops. And learn how to garden in a way that suits any situation.

Since they collaborated to write their 2011 book No Guff Vegetable Gardening, hosts Donna Balzer and Steven Biggs have put a practical and fun spin on food gardening and edible landscaping. Donna is a horticulturist, educator, former CBC Radio host, and award-winning TV host. Her passion is growing and cooking food. Steven was recognized by Garden Making magazine as one of the “green gang” making a difference in horticulture. His home-garden experiments span driveway straw-bale gardens, a rooftop kitchen garden, fruit plantings, and an edible-themed front yard. Show co-founder Emma Biggs (Steven’s Gen Z, tomato-crazy daughter) drops in for an occasional show.

Join us every Thursday. On the first Thursday of the month we bring in an innovator or expert. Other weeks we dig into a specific crop or another edible-gardening topic.

Get started with one of our fan favourites. Season 6, Episode 10: Big Harvests from a Small Space with a Vertical Vegetable Garden.