Cotoneaster dammeri Schoon

Cotoneaster dammeri 'Schoon' is a cultivar valued for its abundant fruiting with small bright red balls, which are decorative from October onwards. The bush has a dense, prostrate and strongly carpeting habit and shiny dark green evergreen leaves, which are larger than those of the species. Exceptionally vigorous, it forms a ground cover 30cm (12in) in height and 2m (7ft) in width, perfectly suited for enhancing large spaces and banks. In June, it produces an abundance of small white single flowers that are highly attractive to bees. With no specific requirements, it adapts to all exposures and all soils, even dry and chalky ones.

Cotoneaster dammeri belongs to the large Rosaceae family and is native to central and western China. This vigorous shrub is able to withstand marked droughts as well as very harsh winters, even when growing in poor and rocky soil. It clearly prefers well-drained and poor soils. The cultivar 'Schoon' has a spreading habit with flexible, long and creeping reddish branches. Its growth is quite fast, reaching a height of about 30cm (12in) and a width of 2m (7ft) at maturity, and even more as its branches naturally layer. Its evergreen foliage is composed of large thick and leathery leaves. They are very dark glossy green. The flowering takes place in June, with small flowers with 5 white petals shaded with pink, quite typical of the Rosaceae family. This flowering gives way to bright red fleshy fruits measuring 5 to 7mm (0.3in) in diameter, which are greatly appreciated by birds.

Cotoneaster dammeri 'Schoon' is ideal for covering large areas in difficult parts of the garden, bringing a neat touch. In dry and hot conditions, plant it in groups with other ground cover species such as rockroses and creeping rosemary, punctuated here and there with yellow flowers of St. John's wort. While it accepts growing in almost any conditions, it will be more fruitful in full sun. Perfect at the base of a tall hedge or in a shady and bare corner of the garden, for example under a large tree, it can also be planted in a rockery to fill the spaces between other plants. Plant it on a large bank, above a wall, along a patio, or a pathway. It can be planted with creeping juniper 'Blue Star', Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety', and Forsythia intermedia 'Marée d'Or'. Withstanding sea spray well, in coastal climates it can be accompanied by western heathers and evergreen ceanothuses.