Sloes, the bush that everyone should have in their garden

Few bushes are as beautiful and productive at the same time as our protagonist, which has many common names, among them Border Plum, Blackthorn, or Sloe, although it only has one scientific name, which is Prunus spinosa . It grows up to a height of 4 meters, so it can not only be kept in the garden, but you can also choose to have it in a pot .

This is a plant that decorates the room most of the year: in spring it is completely covered with white flowers, and in summer and autumn its lilac-blue fruits sprout and ripen.

prunus spinosa

The Prunus spinosa is a deciduous shrub native to Europe and West Asia. It has small leaves, about 3cm long, green with a slightly serrated edge. The flowers are white, with 5 petals, and they have the peculiarity that they appear before the leaves. The fruit is an edible lilac-bluish or dark blue globose drupe .

This is a plant that must be handled with care, as it has thorns on its branches. So, every time you want to prune it, or if you need to repot it or move it to the garden, it is very important that you wear gloves to protect your hands.

sloes

In cultivation it is a species that is not at all demanding. In fact, it grows in all types of soils, including limestone, and resists cold well (down to -15ºC). The only thing to keep in mind is that it should be placed in an area where it receives direct sunlight, and that it should be pruned in autumn or before its flowers bloom in spring (in the Northern Hemisphere it would be more or less in March).

If we talk about the uses, with the fermentation of the sloes, alcoholic beverages are made in some countries, and in Spain it is used to make pacharán, which is a typical liquor from the Navarra region.

Have you heard of sloes?

Sloes, the bush that everyone should have in their garden

Leave a Reply

Scroll to top

Discover more from DIY Gardens

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading