Creeping Cotoneaster

Creeping Cotoneasters (Cotoneaster adpressus praecox)
Creeping Cotoneasters (cuh-TONE-ee-ass-terz) are fine-textured, low-growing shrubs which are especially handsome trailing over retaining walls or planted in large groupings on banks. They carpet the ground with glossy green leaves in summer and red to purple tones in fall. Creeping Cotoneasters are also valued for their small, bright red berries that appear on the plants in late summer.

Size: Creeping Cotoneasters are 3 feet high and may spread 6 feet across, due to their ability to root wherever branches touch the ground.

Foliage: The lustrous, dark green leaves are round with wavy edges and from 1/2 to 1 inch long. They alternate on the stems. The fall colors, which often last into November, range from deep red to purplish.

Flowers and Berries: The tiny pink flowers that appear on Creeping Cotoneasters in late May are relatively inconspicuous. However, the rosy-red, 1/2-inch-diameter fruits the plants produce in late summer are quite handsome against the dark green leaves. These berries often last well into the winter.