Bearberry Cotoneaster Delights in the Garden All Year

Virtues: Bearberry cotoneaster (Cotoneaster dammeri) is a versatile low-growing evergreen shrub that provides color in gardens through the winter and beyond. It can be used as a ground cover, atop a wall or as an edging to shrub-dominant borders.

Common name: Bearberry cotoneaster

Botanical name:Cotoneaster dammeri

Exposure: Full sun to bright shade

Season: Spring for flowers, fall/winter for berries, year-round for foliage

Flowers: Small but eye-catching five-petaled white flowers bloom in profusion in the spring.

Foliage: Small, oval, glossy dark green leaves line the branches and twigs. Some leaf drop may occur in winter. Some varieties, such as ‘Coral Beauty’, offer purplish fall foliage.

Habit: Bearberry cotoneaster is a low mounding shrub that reaches about a foot tall and can spread to about six feet wide.

Origins: China

How to grow bearberry cotoneaster: Site in full sun or bright shade in average soil with good drainage. Maintain regular soil moisture throughout the first year in the garden; thereafter bearberry cotoneaster is tolerant of drought. Best fruiting occurs with regular watering, however. USDA Zones 5–8.

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