Plant · P-563

Rowan

Sorbus aucuparia

Rowan is a small mountain tree that produces heavy autumn clusters of tart red-orange berries, best left to blet or catch a frost before they lose their raw bitterness and turn into good jam, jelly and preserve. Its flowers draw bees and butterflies by the dozen species, and its fruit is stripped fast by birds. It needs consistently cool summers - sustained heat leaves it short-lived and increasingly prone to fireblight and borers. Full sun gives the heaviest fruiting, and it copes well with wind, pollution and even coastal exposure.