May 21, 2026
Good morning!
It’s Thursday, and we leave our hidden dolls behind, wipe cake crumbs off our lap (angel food, for those who asked), and head outside to celebrate the extraordinarily brief burst of life currently taking place on these scraggly branches.
The bloom is so brief that we usually refer to this bush/tree as, “that pretty white thing that blooms for a day.” The game is to manage to be home when this occurs, and I’m happy to say that we won that game this year.
But our friend does have a name: Amelanchier. It has many other names, too. You might know it better as shadbush, or perhaps shad blow? Maybe you call it serviceberry? Or if you prefer spelling it “sarvisberry” that’s ok too. You might rather call it a juneberry, or saskatoon, or sugarplum, all of which are also permissible. Last but not least, our friend also responds to the names wild plum and chuckley pear.
“I want nothing better than a good word. The name of a thing may easily be more than the thing itself to me.”
—Henry David Thoreau
Onwards,
Clara
Thanks for this, Clara! I love spotting the white blossoms of this little tree in the woods in the early spring. It's easy to identify even from a distance as it's the only thing showing white flowers so early.
When we downsized to a condo last summer, we acquired a small serviceberry tree as a very close neighbor. I had never seen one before. I loved the white blossoms this spring! I am now watching the green berries turn orangy red. I know from last summer they will continue to turn dark. Our condo association has planted many of these trees in our community. I’m in Indiana, so we are “ahead” of you Maine folks!