Garden getting beyond you? Perennials overflowing? Expense of annuals increasing like weeds? Could be time to call in the shrubs! Not all tower over that tallest gardener. Indeed, a selection are more on the abbreviated size. Flowers in season would be nice. But berries to brighten the off-season, bring winter colour would be even better.
Surprisingly oft overlooked are the Cotoneaster. A form will be found for any size garden and to tolerate extreme winter climates. Most bear a profusion of small white flowers in late spring followed by long-lasting red fruit. 'Bearberry Cotoneaster,' C. dammeri, is a truly prostate species with the selection 'Skogholm' slightly taller and more vigorous. 'Rockspray' (C. horizontalis) is another dwarf form growing to a metre high but not quite so hardy. 'Creeping Rockspray' (C. adpressa) is hardier and slightly shorter. Taller and living up to its botanical designation is C. bulata 'Floribunda,' up to two metres high with mases of gorgeous red fruit on large clusters. 'Hedge Cotoneaster' (C. lucida), one of the hardiest, is good for just that, hedges and bears black fruit on two-metre-plus bushes.
