Great Plant Picks: Whitebeam, Sorbus aria ‘Lutescens’

Published 4:32 pm Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Whitebeam offers attractive colors and textures in the garden.

Whitebeam offers attractive colors and textures in the garden.

Whitebeam, Sorbus aria ‘Lutescens’

In springtime the new foliage of the whitebeam is seemingly effervescent. The leaves are swathed in a white, cottony covering that illuminates the garden. Indeed, Victorian poet George Meredith wrote “Flashing as in gusts the sudden-lighted white beam.” The bountiful, tiny white flowers are borne in woolly clusters and develop into showy, bright red fruits. Fall color is yellow to russet.

Size: It grows up to 30 feet high and 25 feet wide.

Where: Full sun to light shade, needs occasional watering.

Wildlife: Attracts bees and birds

— Great Plant Picks