Sorbus harrowiana seed

LATIN NAME: SORBUS HARROWNIANA

COMMON NAME: Harrow’s Rowan

The Harrow’s rowan garnets the upright, deciduous tree with the long, pinnate leaves of the many narrow leaflets and the flat, generous clusters of the small, white flowers that open through the late spring, the round, bright-red berries following in the dense, coral bunches and holding through the autumn. The leaves colour the gold and the orange in the autumn, and the tree grows into the neat, open form. It stands the cold and the high ground well, and it likes the sun, and the moist, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The coral berries of the Harrow’s rowan give it a recognised place in the research on the cold-climate berry trees of the rose family, and the species appears in the studies of the berry pigments and the high-altitude growth. The work looks at the way the berries hold through the autumn, the autumn leaf colour, and the seed biology. The winter food for the birds keeps the ecologists interested, and the growers of the high-country ornamental trees keep the species in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the cold garden, the Harrow’s rowan garnets the autumn branches with the red berries. The coral bunches feed the thrushes and the waxwings through the winter, the pinnate leaves turn the gold and the orange, and the rowan berries have served the jellies and the drinks for the ages. It grows well in the moist, well-drained, sunny ground. Berry-bright, high-country and autumn-clear.

To grow the Harrow’s Rowan from seed, tuck the seeds into the damp, cool fridge bag for the winter rest, then sow them into the gritty, leafy drills of the open bed in the spring, keep the pot in the cool, bright spot and water gently, and the seedlings appear in the spring.

Keep the pot cool and gently watered, and pot the seedlings on in the spring. The garnet clusters come in a few seasons. Stand the young trees in the sunny, moist ground, and the garnet clusters will brighten the autumn.

Uses: medicinal and ornamental