Winter is just round the corner and what better time to consider and plant something that will give colour and joy in the late winter? This tall arching shrub exudes elegance with its soft green hazel nut like leaves that turn yellow in autumn and it is even better in late winter when its drooping …
This climbing relative of the humble grape vine has it all in my humble opinion so why haven’t you planted it yet? Its summer foliage is a rich green with a burgundy reverse (you always see the back through the window so it is important). If it is growing in semi to full shade the …
Yes I know I’ve done this Genus twice before but I promise this will be the last time unless I find some more cold hardy species! This one is a suckering shrub up to 1.5metres tall in my climate and it will wander quite a distance (you have now been warned!) but it wouldn’t stop …
The autumn is on the way and before long the leaves will start to turn so don’t be left out make sure you have some lovely Japanese maples in you garden. Even a tiny plot or a cool balcony would be enough for this restrained cultivar so there are no excuses! It will slowly make …
Well here we go again, another much loved plant has had a name change. So if you are looking for this stunning shrub in a book more than a few months old then look up Mahonia lomariifolia and it will have the same description as it is the same plant. What ever the name is …
A truly remarkable intergenetic hybrid between Chilopsis linearis and Catalpa bignonioides breed at the Botanic Garden of the Uzbec Academy of Science in 1964. Although both Genera are in the same family they appear quite different and a cross would seem unlikely and the result possibly less that ornamental. However this plant has proved to …
This deciduous Chinese shrub or small tree is rarely met with in horticulture here and although it isn’t likely to set the world on fire it is a pretty and interesting addition to any garden. It produces drooping spikes of whitish flowers in spring followed by entertaining papery seed pods that give the Genus the …
If you are looking for a shrub that pays its way all year round it is hard to beat this form of North American Oak Leafed Hydrangea. It does everything that the species can do and then some. The large handsome leaves look good all year and as the autumn cold sets in they turn …
This genus consists mainly of tropical shrubs and climbers but there are a few cold hardy representatives and I’m out to collect them all if I can, and this species was the first I found and still one of my favourite shrubs even though it has some characteristics that would mark it down in many …
I hold the national collection of the Elderflower Genus and I think they are all useful hardy shrubs that deserve a space in any garden. After all you can use the flowers for fritters, cordial and champagne and the berries for jams, jellies and wine, the stems for Pan Pipes (the world obviously needs more …