The month of October gives us plenty of choice in the garden for the title of Plant of the Month, many hopefuls have berries and late flowers to offer.  However, we would like to choose the Pyracantha because it offers so many opportunities to shine.  The one pictured is ‘Orange Glow’ which gives an impressive display of berries at this time of year.

Autumn Pyracantha Berries

This evergreen shrub can be used as a hedge to form a secure and vandal resistant barrier or trained against a wall to provide year round interest.  Birds, particularly blackbirds and wrens love this plant to nest in – the pyracantha in our garden has a nest in it every year.  If you need a wall shrub to clothe a North facing wall this could be it…  So ignore the pain of pruning a pyracantha and group it with an Aucuba japonica for a beautiful Autumn show.