- By Ken Schultz

Usually I follow the common name with a scientific – or vice versa. But this is it, both. It’s Cot-o-nee-as-ter, not Cotton Easter, which I’ve frequently heard over the years. There are a wide selection of Cotoneaster varieties. Unfortunately, pre-bonsai varieties tend not be hardy to this zone, and when planted in a pot some of the locally available landscape materials object to root pruning. This must be why I’ve avoided Cotoneaster as the tree of the month subject for so long.

Cotoneater are usually trained as nifty little “apple trees”; their white flowers and red fruit are size proportionate, and their natural branching is arched toward the ground make them an ideal scale model. Unfortunately, they also get fire blight just like apples. However, when fire-blight strikes a shohin or mame’ bonsai is likely to die before the fire blight can be removed.