Photinia fraseri Seeds | Red Tip Photinia
LATIN NAME: Photinia fraseri
COMMON NAME: Red Tip Photinia, Fraser Photinia
Plant Profile
Red tip photinia is a hybrid, and almost everything about it follows from that fact. It was raised in the 1940s at a nursery in Alabama from two Chinese species, Photinia glabra and Photinia serratifolia, and the offspring inherited the glossy, finely toothed leaves of one and the vigour and leaf size of the other.
It grows as a dense, rounded evergreen shrub or small tree, three to five metres in most gardens and larger where it is left alone, with a mass of dark green foliage that is entirely ordinary until new growth appears. That growth is the point: in spring, and again after trimming, the shoot tips flush copper-red to scarlet and hold colour for three or four weeks before hardening to green. Flat heads of small white flowers appear in late spring on unpruned plants, followed by small red berries in autumn.
Science & Biotechnology
Because it is a hybrid, red tip photinia does not come true from seed, and this is the single most important thing to know about raising it. Seedlings from a garden plant will be a mixed batch, showing the full range between the parents in leaf size, leaf colour, vigour and hardiness, and most will be inferior to the clone you started with. The plant is also largely self-sterile and fruits sparsely, so seed is often scarce anyway.
Commercially it is propagated from cuttings, and the named cultivar Red Robin, selected in New Zealand, is the form most widely sold. The species’ weak point is fungal: Entomosporium leaf spot, which spots the leaves and defoliates the shrub in humid climates, has made it a difficult plant in the southeastern United States and in mild, wet maritime gardens, and susceptibility varies widely between seedlings.
Uses & Benefits
Where it grows well, red tip photinia is one of the fastest and most effective evergreen screens available, and a clipped hedge of it will close in two or three seasons. The red flush after clipping is the reason it is clipped so hard and so often, though repeated shearing produces a dense outer shell and a bare interior, and old hedges can collapse under snow or wind.
As a specimen it is less satisfactory, because the flowers smell faintly of trimethylamine, which is not a selling point in a small garden. It is at its best as a background plant, a windbreak, or a hedge that is allowed to keep a natural outline. The berries are eaten by birds but are not for people, and the leaves and stems are mildly toxic if chewed, so clippings should not be left where livestock can reach them.
Growing from Seed
Sow fresh seed in autumn, cleaned of flesh, in a sandy compost at about eighteen degrees; germination is usually quick and uneven, and light helps. Accept that the results will vary. Prick out the seedlings young, grow them on in pots for two seasons, and select only those with good leaf colour and clean foliage, since leaf spot susceptibility varies widely between individuals and is worth screening for.
For a hedge, plant at sixty centimetres apart in well-drained soil in sun or part shade, water through the first two summers, and clip in late spring and again in midsummer if you want the red flush twice. Avoid overhead watering, which spreads the leaf spot spores, and clear fallen leaves from the base of the hedge, since they carry the fungus through the winter.
Our Take
A fast, useful evergreen screen where humidity is low; from seed, expect variation and screen hard for leaf health. Buy a named clone for a hedge, and sow seed only if you enjoy surprises.
Related Reading
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