Cottoneaster - red berry trees ...

I hadn’t paid that much attention to these little trees until I started noticing how many berries they had. During a Welsh lesson I was once told that if holly trees have too many berries that means that it will be a cold winter. That's stayed with me together with many other snippets of information that make attending language lessons so much fun (to me). This is clearly not a holly though. I guess the great number of berries is just the result of a hot summer and the unstoppable autumn.

I have so far counted 5 of these trees near the house and from what I read they’re supposed to be bushes. That shows the level of lack of management I have to deal with. I reckon the previous owner planted the trees because the flowers attract bees and they kept hives. During the summer the trees in that area really hummed with activity; it was great.

I always find it a bit sad how plant labels completely disappear and then future admirers / owners have got to research things - there must be an app around that can easily identify plants... a sort of tricorder.

My main search included words like ‘bright red berries and glossy dark leaves’. I was surprised to find the links so quickly so after researching the red berries I reckon I know now.

Two sources were as usual very helpful for a newbie like me, the first place was wikipedia because it includes general information and also links to many other pages. Below is a quote from there.

Cotoneaster species are used as larval food plants by some Lepidoptera species including grey dagger, mottled umber, short-cloaked moth, winter moth and hawthorn moth. The flowers attract bees and butterflies and the fruits are eaten by birds.

This other site about ornamental trees summarises my other findings perfectly :

Cotoneaster are popular for their year round interest which can include brightly coloured winter berries, pretty white flowers and evergreen foliage. They are also favoured because they are easy to grow and require minimal pruning which can be done at any time of year.

That last statement gives me hope as I do not particularly want to damage the trees unnecessarily. The page shows that there are different types of this tree and two look a bit similar so I need to check whether leaves are shed or not. In all this time (over 15 years living here) I have never paid attention.

Incidentally, the berries are for the birds and possibly slugs and are not supposed to be edible. I actually also searched whether they were poisonous or not. I found this particular site I will be visiting again called the poison garden to check some of the other plants we've got.

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allphotos by @cryptocariad

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