[Northeast U.S.A.] Aronia melanocarpa doing well in its second year

I got these as bare-root saplings a couple years old, and planted them last year. One actually bloomed and produced some berries the same year I planted it! These things sure are prolific. This year, they’re all already blooming.

I tried a couple things with the handful of berries from last year, i.e. just eating them raw, making juice, jam, etc. Raw was (somewhat predictably) not very good, but the juice and jelly were great. Also, while I don’t at all mind supplementing the diets of local fauna, it was nice that the birds actually left us some! Unlike my elderberries, which they picked clean so fast we didn’t get a single one lol.