Colletia

Colletia hystrix, known colloquially as the barbed wire bush, comes from Chile and northern Argentina, and is named for the French botanist Philibert Collet 1643 - 1718, and is a member of the family Rhamnaceae. It was introduced to Britain in 1882

The genus, which contains five species, all have branchlets of spines, to varying degrees of length, arranged oppositely and alternate. It is incredibly spiny – to the point of being impossible to get near to prune and when the small deciduous leaves fall in autumn, those spikes remain, which may suggest this is not a garden favourite, although it doesn’t seem to deter insects and butterflies, late in the year, can often be found on it. But because it is late flowering, this is definitely a plant worthy of note. It is often used as a barrier plant and seems to work against most animals, including the almost impossible to keep out deer.

Even in the cold of Scotland it can grow to about six feet tall and it flowers in November, when the tiny and abundant blossoms appear, they are tubular and waxy-white, richly scented and with prominent white stamens sometimes having a pink blush. As an extra bonus, flowers appear on the plant when it is quite small – as young as a year.

The cultivar 'Rosea' appears to be variable in colour, although called ‘rosy’ and definitely bearing rosy-pink buds some of this are pink when they open while others start pink, then opening to white.

© blueworldgardener.co.uk