Peking Cotoneaster

Looking for a great hedging solution to give structure to your landscape? How do you feel about pretty, shiny dark green foliage and sweet pink flowers that cover every stem in spring? Would you like your hedge to be easy-care?

How about feeding local butterflies and songbirds with zero extra effort on your part? If all that sounds good, you'll definitely want this variety on your shortlist!

The Peking Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster acutifolius var. lucidus) is a deciduous shrub with slender, upright, spreading branches. When young, they hold their branches straight, tidy and upright, but will eventually grow into a lovely round shape in open areas with full sun.

Now, don't be fooled! The handsome, shiny green foliage may have you thinking this is a Holly from a distance. But this plant is hardy way down to -40 below zero! It is such a cold-hardy shrub, that in Canada and Alaska, they actually Espalier the plants on walls, or train them into many different forms. These hedging plants can take extreme weather!

Not only does the Peking Cotoneaster (pronounced "Koh toh knee aster") have beautiful foliage, but they also have apple blossom-like pink flowers and buds that open and showcase white petals. The flowers are borne in mid-spring and will attract butterflies!

Following the flowers, the plants develop small black berries that persist into winter or until the birds eat them. They are appreciated by songbirds through the winter!

You'll really love Peking Cotoneaster's sexy, shiny, deep green leaves. They provide a ton of style during the growing season. And then? As a final finale, you'll adore the fantastic scarlet, orange, and sometimes purplish fall colors to help celebrate the close of the season.

Planting and Application:

This is a classic flowering shrub for an informal hedge that flowers, has fruit, and has incredible fall color! Use it to mark the edges of your property in a really attractive way. Backdrop garden beds to highlight other plants and perennials. Use the dense branching as a barrier and screening along your property, or divide your front yard from the sidewalk for a lovely touch of privacy!

They make fantastic screening plants because they hold their beautiful foliage right to the ground. Use in place of Boxwood or Privet, as deer-resistant hedgerows beneath dappled shade areas, and as bird-friendly shelterbelts along the back of your property without worry!

Use Cotoneaster in formal settings, too! They can be trimmed as a sheared hedge for a decidedly modern take on classical garden design. Peking is tall enough - at 8 to 10 feet at maturity - that it can be 'limbed up' to show off as a multi-trunked small accent tree if you'd like! Anchor garden beds or soften the corner of your home's foundation with this uniquely styled large bush! Plant a row of Autumn Inferno® Cotoneaster along the rest of your foundation for a pretty, yet hardy foundation planting that won't block windows!

• Elegant, Shiny Green Foliage
• Pink Flowers That Look Like Apple Blossoms
• Small Black Berries Feed Birds Into Winter
• Fast-Growing!
• Incredible Fall Colors
• Good Sized Shrub, Privacy Hedge, Backdrop, Specimen & Anchor

#ProPlantTips for Care:

Cotoneasters do well in partial shade to full sunlight. The beauty of this deciduous shrub is how simple it is to grow! It requires one simple request - well-drained organic soil. Water cannot pool where you plant this shrub, as the root system needs air. Raise up the planting soil by several inches with native soil, if needed. Give it good drainage and it will perform like a trooper!

For best results, water during extended drought and provide a 3-4 inch layer of mulch around the entire root system. You won't have to prune very often, but if you do wish to prune or shear your Cotoneaster, do so right after they've flowered.

• Full Sun & Partial Shade
• Adaptable to Any Well-Drained Soil Location
• Moderate Moisture Needs
• Prune After Flowering
• Very Adaptable, Pollution-Tolerant & Easy-To-Grow

We regularly sell out of this magnificent plant. Order now, but be sure to order enough for your entire project! Snap up your Peking Cotoneaster bushes from Nature Hills Nursery!