Deciduous euonymus

These bushy to upright shrubs or small trees produce red, pink or purple fruits that ripen in autumn, splitting to reveal showy orange seeds. Most also have fantastic autumn colour, with the leaves turning vibrant crimson before they fall. Older stems often have distinctive corky ridges or ‘wings’.

These plants like sun or light shade and grow well in most types of soil, including chalk, as long as it is free-draining. They are robust and resilient plants, coping well in dry conditions and able to tolerate some exposure.

They will not grow well in permanently wet soils, and will not flower or fruit freely, nor produce good autumn colour, in deep shade.

Euonymus wood is particularly hard, and was traditionally used to make spindles for spinning wool, hence the plant’s common name.