Photinia fraseri Dicker Toni - Christmas Berry

The Photinia Fraseri 'Dicker Toni' is a beautiful new variety resembling the 'Red Robin', but with a more upright habit, more compact and more ramified from the base. It also has the advantage of producing very bright red young shoots throughout the season and after each pruning. Its foliage is finer and more resistant to diseases. In spring, red young leaves, umbels of white flowers and mature leaves of a shiny dark green coexist on this bush that is full of character. Moderate growth and excellent screening power even in winter are other assets sought to create an elegant and sturdy hedge. Comfortable in any good garden soil, even in coastal regions, this new Photinia also adapts very well to container cultivation.

Photinia (x) fraseri or Fraser's Photinia is an old horticultural creation born in 1940 in the United States, resulting from the cross-breeding between Photinia glabra, native to Japan, and Photinia serrulata, native to China. This hybrid has given rise to some famous cultivars, including 'Red Robin', widely planted in our parks and gardens. In recent years, some beautiful improvements have been born, more compact, more colorful and more disease-resistant, such as 'Dicker Toni'. 

Rarely exceeding 2m (7ft) in height and 1.50m (5ft) in spread, the Photinia Dicker Toni has a very dense habit and shows rapid growth. Its particularly ramified vegetation is adorned with evergreen foliage composed of leaves thinner than those of Red Robin. Arranged alternately on the branches, they are about 6-8cm (2-3in) long, finely toothed on the edges, a bright red-orange when young, then a shiny green when mature. In March or April, clusters of small white flowers appear, reaching up to 10cm (4in) in diameter at the terminal ends of the branches.

In addition to the beautiful coloration of its young foliage, it is also the hardiness and adaptability to any type of soil that have earned Photinia (x) fraseri worldwide success. Like it, 'Dicker Toni' tolerates all types of well-drained soil, from deep and moist to dry, in sunny or semi-shaded positions. It is an easy-to-cultivate and low-maintenance bush that can withstand temperatures down to -18°C (1°F) when exposed to the sun. Of course, it is ideal for creating trimmed or untrimmed hedges, and it also adapts very well to container cultivation and is impressive in flower beds. Very ornamental, it can also be planted as a stand-alone in a small garden. There are numerous possibilities for companion planting depending on the regions and the preferences of each gardener; with other easy-to-grow evergreen bushes like Elaeagnus ebbingei Compacta, laurels, Rhamnus alaternus, Berberis, Olearia, Lonicera nitida or Lonicera xylosteum Clavate's Dwarf for example. It will also accompany other bushes with white spring flowering such as Spireas or Mock Orange.