I am obsessed with this shrub, but when I ask local (Queens NY) garden centers, they do not offer and will not order. How do I get a healthy one, and when is the best time to plant?

After looking at the plant in our database, I can see why you want one! Red Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia 'Brilliantissima')

Good luck in your search.

@Newyorkrita or @chelle may know.

It looks like it's sold mostly wholesale, but you might try here, Sas.
http://www.lazyssfarm.com/Plan...

(It looks like they close their website for the season on Nov. 8th...so check it out soon. )

Oh, and we planted ours dormant in the early spring, but early fall planting would probably be a good time, too.

Forest Farms sell it, too: http://www.forestfarm.com/prod...

(I'm pretty sure it's the same cultivar, they just didn't spell out Brilliantissima)

Oh, just saw this as my internet was down yesterday and most of today. I just bought my shrubs at a local nursery so don't know where else one might find them.

Thanks for the replies! I have bookmarked lazyssfarm so I can jump on this in the spring.

My past googling about shrubs with powerful fall foliage had taken me to a blog where someone explained their preference for chokeberrry over burning bush. Couldn't find them for sale anywhere so was pondering alternatives.

Last week, when passing a local school, I saw dark green shrubs with red berries. I took a snipping so I could figure out what they were. Yes, they were chokeberries - over a dozen of them!

The reason the leaves were still green (and why I had not previously paid attention to those bushes) is that they are all planted ON THE NORTH SIDE of the school! When I get "my" chokeberry, it is going in a spot where it will get full sun and be visible from every facing window in my house.