Bit of background: 10 or 12 years ago, my Dad purchased a 'Mother's Day' floral arrangement for my Mom. In it was a small 6" plant which had a tag identifying it as a 'Dead Stick Plant' After mother's day, he planted in the garden and waited. 10 years later it is 6 feet high, (as shown). I have spent hours on the net trying to identify it to no avail. There are numerous dead stick plants, but not this one. The blooms look like a Forsythia, but it isn't. There is no scent to the flowers which bloom in spring. Bees and other insects, including the ever present humming-birds, don't seem to like it. Can anybody identify it ...?? I'm sorry the pictures aren't the best - my 75 year old father only just got his first digital camera. ~ edit the last picture (looking at the window) was one he snapped last year after it had finished blooming - the bush/tree twigs look almost black and the best description I can give is it looks something like coral would look like if it grew on land.
I posted this also on Facebook, and a relative came through with an identification, if the Mods wish you can delete this thread - it turns out that its a Corokia cotoneaster aka "wire netting bush" http://plantmad.blogspot.ca/2011/05/corokia-cotoneaster.html
Of course we'll keep this here - it's an interesting plant, and thanks for letting us know the ID. I assumed "Corokia cotoneaster" was the common name of a type of Cotoneaster, but I see that the name is Corokia cotoneaster, and cotoneaster is the species of Corokia. A case where italics and that lower case "c" on cotoneaster make all the difference.
Interesting to see Corokia growing to such a size with an open form. It grows wild over the hills here and the constant wind that it is exposed to generally mows it flat or sculpts it into weird shapes. This is how it is usually seen: http://www.botanicalstockphotos.com/img1466.htm . Most New Zealand gardeners don't grow the species, either Corokia cotoneaster or Corokia buddleioides, but hybrids between the two, which are known as Corokia x virgata. From the size of the flowers (see http://www.botanicalstockphotos.com/img1475.htm ), I'm wondering if DeltaSierra's Corokia might be one of the hybrids instead of C. cotoneaster, though it is rather sparse on foliage.
