Other Names:  Palette Christmas Berry, Chinese Photinia

Description:

A large, bushy, upright evergreen shrub, featuring bronzy-red new foliage that matures to deep green, marked cream, pink, and bronze; subtle white flowers produce very striking red fruit in fall that persists into winter; very effective in mass plantings

Ornamental Features

Palette Chinese Stranvaesia is primarily grown for its highly ornamental fruit. The fruits are showy red pomes carried in abundance from late summer to late winter. It has attractive creamy white-variegated dark green foliage with hints of pink which emerges brick red in spring. The glossy oval leaves are highly ornamental and turn an outstanding red in the fall, which persists throughout the winter. It features subtle clusters of white flowers hanging below the branches in early summer. The smooth brown bark and purple branches add an interesting dimension to the landscape.

Landscape Attributes

Palette Chinese Stranvaesia is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Disease

Palette Chinese Stranvaesia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Palette Chinese Stranvaesia will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.