Prolific plant
By Bernard
Cambridgeshire,
United Kingdom 
This plant has made itself thorougly at home in the period of neglect before we bought the property. During my rescue operation I dug up roughly 100 plants that had taken root. There were enough for me to plant a hedge along one of the boundaries. There is onother one at the front of the property which is covered with red berries and I wonder if there is a male and female variety. Your help in identifying it would be very much appreciated.
Bernard
2 Nov, 2008
Answers
Hey John,
This makes us 1 all today. It's definitely a Cotoneaster Horizontalis. It is self fertile.
2 Nov, 2008
Is there a male and female variety?
Benard
2 Nov, 2008
No Bernard. Self seeding and self fertile both mean that they do not require a second plant of any gender.
John
2 Nov, 2008
The majority of the plants in the back garden have no berries, whereas a hedge in the front garden is absolutely loaded. Any thoughts on what the reason might be?
Bernard
2 Nov, 2008
Too young.
2 Nov, 2008
Yes the flowers may not set as they are small and it is cooler in the back garden.
2 Nov, 2008
Yes, a cotoneaster Bernard and mine like yours doesn.t flower even though it's quite a decent size shrub -4ftx4ft.
I was hoping it would have flowers then berries but no, so there must be different varieties.
2 Nov, 2008
Could be your cold westerly winds Janey. There are different varieties (I have an orange berried one) but one thing they all have in common is that, given correct conditions, they self seed like mad. In fact DEFRA was talking about banning them for sale as they are so invasive. If you google 'DEFRA cotoneaster' you should be able to get the details.
John.
3 Nov, 2008
Dear me, John,
I've Googled DEFRA as you suggested and there's a can of worms waiting to be opened! Not only cotoneaster, but crocosmia and varieties of Rhododendron are threatened.
Visions of the Plant Police rampaging through our gardens wielding flamethrowers!!! Definitely an over-reaction on my part. But any GoY member who is concerned about the activities of these people ought to Google as you suggested and find out for themselves.
I've discovered a number of websites that claim to be able to answer gardening questions so have posed the question to them about our childless cotoneasters and will share with you all any info that arrives.
Regards
Bernard
3 Nov, 2008
AAAArgh. I just spent 6 quid on 6 rare yellow crocosmia corms. I love crocosmia, especially 'Lucifer' but I even like the common orange one whose name I can never remember. Keep us informed Bernard. This is as ridiculous as the 5p per plant tax on all plants from DEFRA approved nurseries.
John.
3 Nov, 2008
I think the problem with the non-berrying is that it not Cotoneaster!!! You will find it is Lonicera pileata. A great evergreen, but does get a bit out of hand if not trimmed!!!
Hope this helps!
4 Nov, 2008
Really!....well thanks for that Plantgeek, I'm going to google it now and have a look.
4 Nov, 2008
I think you will find thats the answer!!!! Let me know what you find!!!
5 Nov, 2008
I think if it is a Lonicera pileata then it should still flower and fruit. The flowers and fruits are described as 'inconspicuous' in various databases but they are still there. The fruit (berry) is purple. The species L. nitida is however non-flowering. So if you have Lonicera as well as Cotoneaster then I think that this one is more likely.
Take a twig off one (not just a leaf) and compare it with the other. They should have subtle differences if they are two different genus.
John.
5 Nov, 2008
Previous question
Hi Bernard. Looks like a cotoneaster. They do self seed like mad but are quite desirable so plant your hedge (if you can give it something to climb up even better) and enjoy it. Just be prepared to pull seedlings out every year. Not a big job.
John.
2 Nov, 2008