Photinia fraseri Red Ballcoon - Christmas Berry

The Photinia fraseri 'Red Ballcoon' is a variety of Photinia that forms a compact ball and is adorned with well-coloured foliage throughout the seasons. This small bush, more decorative than boxwood and less susceptible to pests, is perfect for decorating the terrace or creating beautiful colourful borders. In spring, young bronze and copper-colored leaves, cream flower umbels, and mature leaves of beautiful shiny green coexist on the plant. In autumn, the foliage becomes flamboyant. Comfortable in any well-prepared garden soil, even by the sea, this Photinia adapts perfectly to container gardening.

The Photinia (x) fraseri or Fraser's Photinia is an old horticultural creation born in 1940 in the United States. It is the result of cross-breeding between the Photinia glabra, native to Japan, and the P. 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 colourful, and more suitable for small spaces, such as 'Red Ballcoon'.

Rarely exceeding 50 cm (20in) in all directions, the 'Red Ballcoon' Photinia has a bushy, rounded, and very dense habit. It has a rather slow growth. Its particularly ramified vegetation is adorned with evergreen foliage, even in winter. It is composed of smaller leaves than those of Red Robin. Arranged alternately on the branches, they have finely toothed edges, bronze in colour when young, gradually becoming coppery, and then a shiny green at maturity. In March or April, clusters of small cream-white flowers appear, reaching up to 8 cm (3in) in diameter at the terminal part of the branches. The autumn shoots are even more colourful, and the mature leaves also take on interesting hues due to the cold.

In addition to the beautiful colouring of its young foliage, it is also the hardiness and adaptation to all types of soil that have earned Photinia (x) fraseri worldwide success. Like it, 'Red Ballcoon' tolerates all types of well-drained soil, deep, moist to dry, in sunny or semi-shaded locations. It is an easy-to-cultivate and easy-to-maintain bush that can withstand temperatures down to -18°C (-0.4°F) in sheltered locations. Of course, ideal for creating large borders and small trimmed or untrimmed hedges, it adapts perfectly to container gardening and is impressive in flower beds. There are numerous ideas for associations depending on the regions and the tastes of each gardener: with other evergreen shrubs like Japanese Andromeda Pieris japonica Little Heath, small-sized laurel-tins, Compact Darwin's Barberry Berberis darwinii with orange flowers, or a Coral Beauty Cotoneaster suecicus with decorative fruits, for example. It will also accompany other white spring-flowering shrubs like Dwarf Cherry Laurel or Prunus Laurocerasus Miniredia.

Tips: Excessively clayey soils should be avoided. Balancing pruning is necessary in summer.