
I remember going to the last scion collection event in the Corvallis pear collections in the spring of 2019 or so. As I worked in the pear collections with my partner SweepBJames, Mr. Postman was also officially the overseer. I asked Mr. Postman what might work as a non-suckering understock for aronia melanocarpa. Such as pyrus betulafolia (known as impossible to suckering). He explained something to the effect "it's never been tried before on other pyrus species" --as far as we knew.
Since that time I gathered my own aronia scion from highway 503, Brush Prairie, from the roads crew planting just south of Salmon Creek bridge. Today I followed up with a picture as follows on what you can do having aronia growing tall and without the suckering habit that can be expected when aronia is growing self rooted.

Very cool. You can't be sure that nobody has done such a thing before, but I've never seen it.
I have a few European pears, plus Shipova, growing on aronia, but not vice versa.
Something to consider if one wants to make a multi species frankentree. I've got a couple of quince, European pear, and loquat growing together on the same tree. If I got creative, could probably get a bunch of other pome fruit on it as well.

That is a great idea, I should try it - for a different reason: my aronia plants have been the favorite of deer, while my place is already an all-you-can-eat buffet for those hoofed rats. Raising aronia above the “Bambi line" should help. Of course, they probably will try to take down the tree if I put their favorite food up there.
I have done something similar: I put Chinese hawthorn on mountain ash at about 6+ ft above the ground. I only found out that deer here also enjoyed torturing mountain ashes besides destroying Chinese hawthorns. (Rooney, I don’t think I showed you that one last time given that you did not have enough time.)
RE: ET
Another good idea: Aftercare, or in other words "better planning is required".
This is my heavy cropping aronia branch that tumbled down over 10 feet today.
So it is important to have a good all around circumference healing taking place before the weather relalted risks come. Of course in this case the weight of berry fruit could have done it by itself. But in the case of a graft as high as this there was nothing high enough to tie off to.
Here's the previously posted original & now
My today's excess load damage and assessments
Idyllwild
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