A shrub that adds more color to winter landscapes than any other is the pyracantha.
Commonly known as scarlet firethorn, the genus Pyracantha encompasses a large group of shrubs with four species and 20 separate cultivars or varieties. All are evergreen and all have large, showy clusters of berries that are at their peak during the winter months. They're a great winter food source for birds and other wildlife.
Depending on the variety, pyracantha berries come in red, orange, red-orange and yellow. It's best to purchase pyracantha in the fall and winter months to choose plants with the berry-color you like best.
The spring flowers that form these showy berry clusters come only in white, and, although they add to the plant's overall appeal, they're a non-factor for selecting a variety you like.
Pyracantha leaves are shiny, dark green and dense. The overall shape of all pyracantha shrubs is open and somewhat sprawling.
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Although they can be trained as a free-standing shrub, pyracanthas are best grown against a fence, wall, trellis or side of the house.
The stems are thorny, making them a good choice for barrier plantings as well. The overall size varies greatly depending on the variety.
Most grow 6 to 10 feet tall and equally as wide. Some are low-growing, while there are mounding varieties that grow no taller than 3 feet and no wider than 6 feet.
These include "Lowboy," "Red Elf," "Ruby Mound," "Tiny Tim" and "Walderi." Growing tips
In general, pyracanthas are easy to grow. They tolerate full sun, strong wind, extreme desert heat and cold down to 10 degrees — or sometimes lower.
They're also among the most drought tolerant of our imported plants. For established plants, deep watering every 10 to 14 days during hot weather is all that's needed. In some situations pyracantha leaves may become chlorotic from a deficiency of iron, but this is easily corrected with the addition of chelated iron.
Because pyracanthas (the upright-growing forms) are so well suited to growing against walls and other supports, they make ideal espalier plants. (Pronounced "es-PAL-ye," it's the process by which plants are trained to grow in a flat plane against a wall, fence or trellis.)
With their stiff branches and sturdy stems, pyracantha are easily pruned to form a linear pattern on walls without the need for wiring or other support methods.
The key is pruning off all but those branches that grow parallel to the wall surface. It's an easy way to create a free-formed espalier. More precise pruning can be used to create tiered espalier patterns.
Although I consider pyracanthas to be one of those tough- as-nails plants, they do have two notable, yet infrequent, pest problems — both easily dealt with:
● The first — spider mites. They can attack and feed on the lower or inner leaves of the plant. Typically, they cause an orange coloration to develop on infested leaves.
If mites are detected, the best control is a "hosing off" with a strong spray of water from a garden hose nozzle. The water knocks the mites off the leaves and they don't crawl back. Repeat on a weekly basis for two or three weeks.
● The second, even less common, is a bacterial disease called fire blight. It infects stems at the time of flowering and causes a scorched appearance and die-back of infected branches.
The control is also simple. Just prune infected stems a foot below the infected portion. This prevents the bacteria from traveling farther down the stem.
» demo topic
Weekly gardening demonstrations resume this week with "January Yard & Garden Activities" as the presentation topic. Presentations will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Road, and at 1 p.m. Friday at the Oro Valley Public Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive.