Rowan trees

Rowan or Mountain Ash trees are hardy attractive trees, easy to grow in most situations.

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Sorbus
Amber Light
A typical Mountain Ash or Rowan, with particularly persistent red berries.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stock
Sorbus aucuparia
Asplenifolia
The Cut-leaf Rowan, an excellent form of the native Mountain Ash, orange-red berries, and highly feathered leaves.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Orange / Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
In stock
Sorbus aucuparia
Autumn Spire®
Autumn Spire (Flanrock) is a columnar rowan with yellow fruitlets and excellent autumn colour.
Growth habit: Columnar / Fastigiate
Fruit colour: Yellow
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Gold
In stock
Sorbus
Chinese Lace
A form of the Cut-leaf Rowan, with even more pronounced feathering of the leaves. Red berries in autumn, and bronze-purple leaves.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Bronze / Purple
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Sorbus aucuparia
Common Rowan
The Rowan or Mountain Ash, native to most parts of the UK. The leaves turn golden red in autumn, accompanied by clusters of red berries. One of the largest species of Sorbus.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus
Copper Kettle
Named for its attractive light copper-coloured fruitlets, Copper Kettle is easy to grow and takes up little space.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Yellow / Orange
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus aucuparia
Croft Coral
Croft Coral is a small rowan tree but the fruits are an orange coral colour rather than the usual red,
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Orange
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus
Eastern Promise
Features feathered leaves, and pink-red fruitlets.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus aucuparia
Ember Glow
This rowan has bluish-green leaves which turn orange-red in the autumn.The fruitlets are red, and persist well into winter.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
Sorbus folgneri
Emiel
Emiel has long leaves, with silvery-green undersides, turning orange in autumn.
Growth habit: Spreading
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus aucuparia
Fingerprint
A particularly upright form of the Mountain Ash, and one of the most disease-resistant.
Growth habit: Columnar / Fastigiate
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
Sorbus hybrida
Gibbsii
Gibbsii grows with a neat spreading columnar form, sprinkled with clusters of bright red fruits in the autumn.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stockBest seller
Sorbus aucuparia
Glendoick SpireTM
A small compact rowan with an upright form, notable for its bright pink fruitlets and feathered leaves.
Growth habit: Columnar / Fastigiate
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stock
Sorbus
Glendoick White Baby®
A hardy, tough but delicate looking tree combining large white almost transluscent berries and fine narrow pinnate leaves.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: White
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
Sorbus hemsleyi
John Bond
An unusual species of Sorbus, the leaves are particularly attractive for their white undersides.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Brown
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Sorbus x aria
John Mitchell
John Mitchell is a popular whitebeam, notable for its large white-green leaves.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Brown
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stockBest seller
Sorbus
Joseph Rock
A small rowan, with distinctive yellow fruitlets. Also one of the best for autumn colour.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Yellow
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus cashmiriana
Kashmir rowan
An unusual rowan, with light pink blossom, and white fruitlets, which are larger than usual for rowans.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: White
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Gold
Sorbus folgneri
Lemon Drop
Lemon Drop is a small whitebeam tree, with the characteristic white undersides to its leaves. As the name suggests, the fruitlets are bright yellow.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Yellow
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
Sorbus
Leonard Messel
A good all-round small rowan tree, with good autumn colours and cascades of pink fruitlets.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stockBest seller
Sorbus ulleungensis
Olympic Flame
An attractive small rowan tree, its orange/red autumn leaf-colours are amongst the best.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Orange / Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus bissetii
Pearls
A small spreading rowan tree, named for its clusters of pearl-white berries.
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
In stock
Sorbus vilmorinii
Pink Charm
A small rowan with a spreading habit, large feathered leaves, and bright pink berries.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Gold
In stock
Sorbus
Pink Ness
A very upright rowan tree, with pretty pink fruitlets.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stock
Sorbus hupehensis
Pink Pagoda
Pink Pagoda features clusters of pale pink fruits in late summer, and good autumn foliage colours.
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stock
Sorbus
Pink Pearl
A small upright rowan tree with clusters of pink-flecked white fruitlets.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Pink
Fruit colour: White
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Sorbus
Ravensbill
A small to medium tree. Upright oval shaped leaves turning yellow in autumn. Clusters of orange fruit and long blue/black winter buds.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Orange / Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Gold
Sorbus rosea
Rosiness
A small rowan tree with white-pink flowers and cascades of pink berries.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Pink
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus helenae
A species of rowan featuring pink/white fruitlets and good autumn colours.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: White
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
Sorbus japonica
An upright rowan with large oval leaves and attractive autumn colours and large red fruitlets.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints
In stock
Sorbus pseudovilmorinii
Similar characteristics to Sorbus vilmorinii, not quite as vigorous, but heavier fruiting.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Pink
Fruit colour: White
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Gold
In stock
Sorbus sargentiana
A broad spreading rowan with bright orange fruitlets and autumn foliage.
Growth habit: Upright-spreading
Fruit colour: Orange / Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus scalaris
One of the more spreading smaller Rowan species, with orange/red autumn leaf colours, and clusters of small orange fruilets.
Growth habit: Spreading
Fruit colour: Orange / Red
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus vilmorinii
The main feature of this Rowan trees is the pink fruitlets, which turn white as autumn progresses. It is one of the smaller Sorbus species, but also one of the more spreading.
Growth habit: Spreading
Fruit colour: Pink
Fruit colour: White
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Bronze / Purple
In stock
Sorbus
Sunshine
A small rowan tree with an upright form and golden yellow clusters of fruits, and strong autumn colours.
Growth habit: Upright
Fruit colour: Yellow / Orange
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Orange / Red
In stock
Sorbus
Wisley Gold
A good-sized yellow-fruiting mountain ash, with a spreading form.
Growth habit: Spreading
Fruit colour: Yellow / Orange
Height 10 years: 3m-5m / 10ft-16ft
Leaf colour - autumn: Multiple tints

How to choose Rowan trees

The Rowans or Mountain Ash trees are a group of mostly small trees growing to about 7m, characterised by their heavily segmented or "pinnate" leaves, which often take on attractive autumn colours. They are also known as Mountain Ash trees, because the leaf has a passing resemblance to the common ash - although they are not related.

They are however distantly related to crab-apples and hawthorns, and most varieties bear clusters of fruitlets which hang on the tree into early winter. The fruits are usually red, but there are also yellow and pink varieties.

All forms of rowan are good sources of food for wildlife from late summer into the early winter, and in many cases the fruits can also be cooked and made into rowan jelly.

Rowans are easy to grow, and most are tolerant of a wide range of conditions, including acidic soils, clay soils, wet soils, and exposed situations. Many will tolerate chalk, however they prefer well-drained neutral or acidic soils if possible.

Rowans flower very late - in May or June - and often set fruit by mid-summer. This makes them particularly well-adapted to northern climates with short damp summers and cold winters.

Rowans can be grown successfully in areas with long warm summers, provided you pay attention to watering (particularly with young trees) as they do not tolerate drought.

They can be planted in most locations, but for the best fruit and leaf colours plant in full sun.

They are invariably healthy trees, although (reflecting their relation with apples) they can be susceptible to fireblight - fortunately not a common disease in the UK. Scab and aphids can also sometimes be a problem.

The growth habit of most varieties is quite upright, making them good street trees.

Most of our Rowan trees are grafted on to Sorbus aucuparia rootstocks, to help give a consistent size and better tolerance to drought.

We also have advice on choosing a rowan tree for your garden based on berry colours and other characteristics.

Rowan trees

How to choose Rowan trees

Trees for sale

Advice pages