When ripe, the berries are fairly juicy and popular among many birds. These are a small shrub, 2-6 feet in height, growing in swamps, moist to fairly dry woodland margins and thickets. They bloom in June and their fruit ripen in September or October. Similarly, there is a variety of the black chokecherry growing wild along the bottoms of well-watered canyons in Arizona, where it is called the Western Chokecherry. It is larger, blacker and much less astringent than the eastern melanocarpa variety.
Ripe chokecherries make excellent jelly and very good wine.
The toxic pits should not dissuade you from making and enjoying this wonderful wine. Simply destoning the berries will eliminate any potential hazard. Don't let the tartness of the fruit trick you into over-sweetening the must. Chokecherry wine is best when dry, but if you simply cannot tolerate dry wine then sweeten it before bottling very sparingly , please. Pick only ripe berries.