Snowy mespilus
Water well through the first two summers, particularly if pot-grown.
Care
Adaptable, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, ideally slightly acidic.
Minimal — remove dead or crossing wood in winter while dormant; can be lightly thinned right after flowering.
Needs no feeding on any reasonable soil; a spring mulch is enough, and an ericaceous one on chalk. This is a tree that does its work — blossom, berries, autumn colour — without any help.
Lift a rooted sucker from the base of a multi-stemmed plant in the dormant season and replant it: quick, free and reliable. Seed works too, sown fresh in autumn, but takes years.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- FebruaryRemove dead or crossing wood while fully dormant. how ›
- AprilEnjoy the profuse white spring blossom.
- OctoberEnjoy the fiery orange-red autumn leaf colour.
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- FebruaryRemove dead or crossing wood while fully dormant. how ›
- AprilEnjoy the profuse white spring blossom.
- OctoberEnjoy the fiery orange-red autumn leaf colour.
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
- JanuaryRemove dead or crossing wood while fully dormant. how ›
- MarchEnjoy the profuse white spring blossom.
- OctoberEnjoy the fiery orange-red autumn leaf colour.
Months based on climate: Central Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
- JanuaryRemove dead or crossing wood while fully dormant. how ›
- MarchEnjoy the profuse white spring blossom.
- NovemberEnjoy the fiery orange-red autumn leaf colour.
Months based on climate: Southern Italy and islands. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. Blackened, scorched-looking blossom and shoots.
What to do. Cut out well below the affected area, disinfect tools.
How to spot it. Dark spots in wet summers.
What to do. Rake up and dispose of fallen leaves.
Popular varieties
Questions
Snowy mespilus: is it hardy?
H7: Fully hardy anywhere in the UK. It survives below −20 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
Compact cultivars do well in a large pot for several years.
Snowy mespilus: when do you prune it?
Minimal — remove dead or crossing wood in winter while dormant; can be lightly thinned right after flowering. In the calendar for UK, pruning falls in February.
Snowy mespilus: when does it flower?
In the climate of UK it flowers in April.
When do you feed it?
Needs no feeding on any reasonable soil; a spring mulch is enough, and an ericaceous one on chalk. This is a tree that does its work — blossom, berries, autumn colour — without any help.