Cold hardiness

Future

2050

2100

These values are location-based: this location's current hardiness is the baseline, and the 2050 value is a projected future climate for this same location.

Now

Zone 6b

USDA

Published baseline for this location from 1991-2020.

Source: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (1991-2020 climatology) via ArcGIS FeatureServer

Well-suited

2050

Zone 7a

Plotwright

Projected zone for this same location in 2050 (2041-2070) using SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry).

Well-suited

In plain terms: This location is in Zone 6b today. Its hardiness profile is cold winters, and coldest nights are typically around -3°F. By 2050, the projected hardiness zone is Zone 7a based on SSP3-7.0 (regional rivalry). That is a +0.5-zone shift from Zone 6b to Zone 7a by 2050.

✓

Well-suited today and still thriving in 2050.

Heat tolerance

Future

2050

2100

Heat tolerance values are location-based too: heat days today are observed at this site, and the 2050 value projects this same location under a future climate.

Loading AHS heat-zone data for this location...

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 34 ecoregions — 26 climate-resilient through 2070 · 8 suited today. Best matches first.

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Blue Mountains forests

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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Colorado Rockies forests

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Cross-Timbers savanna-woodland

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Eastern Canadian Forest-Boreal transition

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What it needs

Conditions

Light

Full sun / Part sun / Part shade

Water

Low water

Spacing

180"

Habit

Suckering, thicket-forming native large shrub or small tree

Care tips

•

Give it room and full sun for best flowering and the heaviest fruit set; it will run as a thicket via root suckers.

•

Remove suckers promptly if you want a single small tree rather than a spreading colony.

•

Site away from high-value lawn or patio plantings — the weak wood drops branches under ice and snow, and pest pressure (tent caterpillars, black knot) is heavy.

Lifecycle

Planting

Plant in spring or fall in average, dry-to-medium, well-drained loam in full sun to part shade. Best flowering and fruiting is in full sun. Tolerates dry, shallow, and rocky soils once established (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Transplanting

Move young container or balled-and-burlapped plants while dormant; established suckering colonies resent disturbance. Suckers can be dug and transplanted to propagate the colony.

Early growth

Water through the first season to establish. Plants sucker freely to form colonies in the wild — promptly remove suckers if you want to prevent unwanted spread, or let it run to build a thicket (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Maturity

Mature plants reach 20-30 feet tall and 15-20 feet wide as a large shrub or small tree, with fragrant white spring racemes and dark purple-black cherries in late summer. Wood is weak and branches may break under ice or snow load (Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder).

Propagation

Spreads readily by root suckers; also grown from seed, which needs cold stratification. Astringent ripe fruit is processed into jelly, syrup, and wojapi rather than eaten fresh.

Pollination

Self-fertile

Chokecherry bears perfect (bisexual) white flowers in showy, fragrant racemes that the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists as attracting bees and butterflies, and plants fruit without a separate pollinizer. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records it as an important nectar and food source for wildlife. A single plant can set the abundant pendulous cherry clusters the species is known for.

Plants don't grow alone

Larval host

Moth

Hummingbird clearwing moth (Hemaris thysbe)

BAMONA lists cherries and plums (Prunus) as Hemaris thysbe larval hosts; chokecherry is Prunus virginiana.

Larval host

Butterfly

Red-spotted purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax)

Larval host

Butterfly

Spring azure (Celastrina ladon)

Larval host

Moth

Cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia)

Larval host

Moth

Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus)

Larval host

Moth

Hawkmoths (Sphingidae (family-level entry))

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center documents chokecherry as a larval host for sphinx moths including the Small-eyed Sphinx, and an adult-food (nectar) source for the Sequoia Sphinx.

Pollinates

Bee

Mason bees (Osmia spp.)

Nectar forage

Bee

European honeybee (Apis mellifera)

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists the fragrant white flower racemes as attracting butterflies and the plant as bee-visited; honey bees forage the open, accessible spring bloom though the sources do not name the species.

Pollen forage

Bee

Mining bees (Andrena spp.)

Fruit forage

Bird

Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis)

Fruit forage

Bird

Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula)

Fruit forage

Bird

American robin (Turdus migratorius)

Fruit forage

Bird

Eastern songbirds (multi-species) (multiple species (Passeriformes))

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center records the blue-black cherries as important wildlife food in July and August for numerous bird species; Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists the plant as attracting birds.

Fruit forage

Bird

Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

Cedar waxwings are fruit specialists that feed heavily on native cherries; the sources document chokecherry fruit as broadly important bird food, so waxwing use is expected though not named species-by-species.

Foliage forage

Mammal

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

Shelter / habitat

Bird

Black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)

Shelter / habitat

Bird

Downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens)

Shelter / habitat

Beetle

Lady beetles (Coccinellidae)

For people

Edible with preparation

The dark cherries are technically edible but astringent ("choke"-cherry), and the Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists the fruit as showy and edible while noting it is best processed. The ripe pulp is cooked into jelly, syrup, wine, and the Indigenous berry pudding wojapi. The seeds (pits), leaves, twigs, and bark contain cyanogenic compounds and should not be eaten; only the cooked, de-pitted ripe pulp is used.

Toxic parts

seeds, leaves, twigs, bark

Native range

Native across 45 US states + 10 CA provinces.

AHS heat range

1-9

Native ecoregions

Naturally belongs in 41 ecoregions — its native range crosses a state or province each one spans (not necessarily this exact habitat).

Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests

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Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests

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Arizona Mountains forests

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Atlantic coastal pine barrens

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Blue Mountains forests

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California coastal sage and chaparral

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Canadian Aspen forests and parklands

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Central Pacific Northwest coastal forests

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Central Tallgrass prairie

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Central-Southern Cascades Forests

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Climate notes

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder lists Prunus virginiana for USDA zones 2 to 7 in full sun to part shade and dry-to-medium moisture, growing 20-30 feet tall and 15-20 feet wide, native from Newfoundland to Saskatchewan south through much of the United States.

•

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (USDA symbol PRVI) documents it native across 44 US states plus the District of Columbia and ten Canadian provinces, with white flowers April through July and blue-black edible cherries that are an important wildlife food in July and August.

•

Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder notes it tolerates drought, dry soil, and shallow-rocky soil, but is susceptible to a wide range of insect and disease pests (including black knot, tent caterpillars, and Japanese beetles) and has weak wood prone to ice and snow breakage.

•

Tolerates cool to warm summer heat — a cold-hardy species (USDA zone 2) ranging from boreal Canada south to North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas; published horticultural zones top out at USDA 7, so warm is the conservative upper tier.

In the designer

Growth over time

240-360" tall · 180-240" spread

Mature thicket or small tree with full flowering and fruiting.

Design roles: Structure · Pollinator · Edible

Seasonal interest

Spring

Summer

Fall

Winter

Filled = the plant has seasonal interest · ▾ now = your current season

Chokecherry

At a glance

Related products

Why it matters

Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Plants don't grow alone

For people

Native range

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Sources & citations