Joseph Rock Rowan, Large Trees

Sorbus Joseph Rock: Bareroot Chinese Rowan Trees in Standard Sizes

An excellent ornamental variety, Sorbus Joseph Rock has smaller, lighter coloured leaves than most other Rowans, giving the tree a more open look. The flowers come in plain clumps of creamy white before turning into masses of glorious golden-orange berries. He really stands out in autumn, when the leaves take turns to flush with reds, coppers and purple-brown tones.
The maturing berries are held through autumn and show well against both the foliage and then bare branches as they mature from milky yellow to rich amber.

He will reach about 8-9 metres, 25-30 feet high (or approximately 4 metres tall as a half standard), with an upright growth habit, well suited to avenues or smaller gardens.

Browse our other Rowan trees, Whitebeam & Wild Service trees.

Delivery season: Rowan trees are delivered bareroot during late autumn and winter, approximately November-March inclusive.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Height: 8-9m
• Soil: Any well drained except chalk.
• Use: Specimen, small garden, large container, avenue, urban
• Colour: White flowers, yellow fruit
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March
  

Growing Sorbus Joseph Rock

He will be happy in any well-drained, neutral to acidic soil, but not chalk. He needs close to full sun to flower and fruit well. Tolerates urban pollution
We recommend mulching well in late spring and, if your soil is on the dry side, giving him a weekly soaking in a summer heatwave.

Suitable for large containers designed for trees.

Please watch our tree planting video for full planting instructions.

Did You Know?

Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884-1962) was an Austrian botanist and ethnographer who became an American citizen in 1913, and the first curator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's herbarium at the University of Hawaii. He travelled extensively in Western China for close to three decades, collecting plants for the USDA at a time when China was in turmoil, and it was necessary to employ large caravans with plenty of armed guards to deter bandits. He bequeathed his photographs and diaries to the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

The tree is probably one form of the variable species Sorbus rehderiana, taken from the mountainous forests of the Chinese province of Yunnan in the 1930's, but because of its pinnate leaf structure, it is usually classed as an S. aucuparia.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.