Seems these are fairly popular in Europe and somewhat unwanted in the USA. On an English site they had far more varieties then the USA nurseries typically list. And they are useful for jellies and some form of drink. Anyone growing/using these? I seem to get the jist these are mostly a Northern fruit.
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These are almost always used as decoratives and have always been used in hedgerows to feed birds. They’re astringent and theoretically usable for jellies like hawthorns (another hedgerow staple) but aren’t.
For food uses, look in to the michurin intergeneric hybrids of Rowan with things like aronia (sorbaronia), medlar (sorbomespilus), and so on. You can search for Sorbus Burka, Titan, Granatnaja, Krasnojarska, Likjornaja, Desertnaja.
I have his Burka a rowan aronia hybrid but it’s just young.
I’m aware Shipnova and Baby Shipnova are two varieties sold as edible and for drink making.
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Yes there are some good threads on shipova here, but they are not related to rowan, they are pear/whitebeam hybrid.
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Oh my! False advertising! I wish nurseries would stay true to specimen classification.
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The European rowan/mountain ash is highly invasive in many places in the U.S., because birds spread the seeds so widely, so that might be one reason it’s not as widely sold. Not that invasiveness stops nurseries from selling most things.
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i have Ivans beauty from the same breeder as yours and probably the same tree just marketed under a different name. i agree the info. Online on these crosses isnt very clear or accurate. mine is 3 years old and hasnt fruited yet. i have a sierra pear grafted to it.
So far I have not found one tolerant of zone 8b to even try one.
What do you mean by “tolerant of 8b”? Rowan volunteers all over 8b in the PNW, it’s a weed here.
we had a very warm humid wet summer this year and the leaf diseaes almost defoliated them.
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All the nurseries I’ve visited list it up to zone 7.
I tried Nanking Cherry advertised as a zone 7 plant and it grows fine but struggled with the heat.
Ah well zone 8b in the PNW is very different from 8b in the SE. We have only warm (rarely hot), very dry summers. So yeah, maybe they will struggle in hot/humid summers, but they flourish in 8b Mediterranean climates.
Yes. Like my apples. I plan on using a shade cloth on some to prevent sunburn or going mealy. We get a very good solar irradiance here.
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i got a Ivans belle or beauty? its the one with aronia crossed with it. its set its 1st crop this year. i also have Sierra pear and pineapple pear grafted to it. if the fruit isnt worth keeping, ill graft the whole tree to pears. i have a seedling mtn. ash in the front yard completely grafted over to 5-6 different pears. its ripening its 1st fruit as well right now. don’t know how long lived the tree will be but if i get 10 years of fruit from it ill be happy. its in its 6th leaf in a wet part of the yard near the ditch.
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