Trees and Shrubs

Garrya elliptica, the silk tassel bush. One of the best evergreen wall shrubs, noted for its large catkins in late spring. Leaves are dark green, leathery and glossy. The variety 'James Roof' is one of the best strains. This slow growing bush will grow in part shade, try growing as a free standing bush, prune only to keep its shape.
Cercis siliquastrum, The Judas tree. The photo on the left is of a tree growing in a sheltered situation on a university site in Cambridge. The tree has a spreading multi-stemmed habit with inversely heart shaped to kidney shaped leaves which are glaucous blue in colour. The clusters of magenta pea-like flowers appear before the leaves in spring on previous years wood. The flowers are still evident as the leaves start to burst, flattened seed pods follow the flowers. This is a excellent small tree that can also be grown as a shrub or trained against a wall.
Trachycarpus fortunei, add a tropical effect to your garden with this slow growing hardy palm, some winter protection will be necessary. Can be grown in a large pot or tub for the patio, bring inside during cold periods.
Prunus subhritella 'Autumnalis Rosea', winter or autumn flowering cherry. This tree will flower during winter when mild weather allows. Rose pink flowers brighten up winter and early spring days, may also be grown as a shrub when obtained as a bush.
Nandiana domestica, commonly known as the scared, heavenly or Chinese bamboo. This interesting plant is best grown in a protected situation or in a pot so that it can be moved inside in very bad winter weather. The evergreen foliage shows good autumn colour, the summer flowers are attractive followed by red autumn fruit. The plant is upright in habit , slow growing up to about 6', will grow in medium shad to full sun.
Rhamnus alaterna 'Argenteovariegata', This variegated evergreen shrub is a must have plant for the flower arranger. It makes a very dense bush up to 8' high, if left un-pruned it will form a small multi-stemmed tree. The small gray-green leaves have cream margins, the bush is pyramidal in habit and bares a good crop of red fruits. Will grow in sun or part shad, dislikes wet conditions.
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Parrotia perscia, One of the best autumn foliage large shrubs or small trees. The leaves turn vivid orange, yellow and red before they fall in autumn. Prefers a neutral to acid soil, tolerates limited alkalinity ,but this inhibits4 its overall performance.
Ceanothus, The California Lilac is one of the most spectacular shrubs for spring and summer displays. Flowers are in various shades of blue, best grown against a wall as in the photo on the right, but some dwarf types can be freestanding.
Best planted in mild areas or protected situations to give the most prolific effect. This shrub prefers full sun but will grow in part shade where they will be less vigorous. When not in flower the evergreen ovate foliage is attractive. Ceanothus tolerate most soil conditions but show induced chlorosis on thin chalk or limestone soils. Many suitable varieties, my favorites are thyrsiflorus, Blue Mound, Pugrt Blue, Concha, Trewithen Blue, Cascade and Impressus. All gardens should have at least one bush planted .
Little pruning is required but when they have reached there ultimate size prune after flowering to keep in shape, remove some old wood to encourage new growth.
Buddleia, The butterfly bush a truly beautiful shrub if given enough space. These late summer to autumn flowering shrubs have large fragrant racemes of tubular flowers, named varieties offer a wide range of colours. Prune back hard each spring, this will increase flower size and extends the life of the shrub.
Solanum crispum, Climbing Chilean Potato Tree, is a most attractive wall shrub requiring space to develop to its full potential. Flowers are small, star shaped, purple with a yellow eye and borne in clusters from late June to September. The fruit that follows is known to be poisonous.
This shrub requires a sheltered spot, prune hard each spring and tie in shoots to wires or trellis.
Mahonia, A tall growing winter flowering shrub. Varieties of interest Buckland, Winter Sun, lomariifolia and Lionel Fortescue. All have large racemes of fragrant yellow flowers and bright green pinnate foilage.
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Leycesteria formosa, The Himalayan Honeysuckle or Pheasant berry is an interesting plant, it has striking displays of white flowers surrounded by purple-red bracts. Berries follow the flowers in late summer, the leaves fall in autumn to reveal attractive green stems. The shrub is good for mass plantings needing plenty of space , a quick grower in any soil except in extremely alkaline conditions.
Lonicera fragantissima, This delightful scented winter flowering shrub is easy to grow and tolerant of most situations. Its common name is shrubby or winter honeysuckle. It as lots of small creamy white flowers which are produced on leafless branches from late autumn to mid spring, these stand up well to light winter frosts. Also grow Lonicera syringantha the Lilac scented shrubby honeysuckle. The small pink flowers on this species my be sparse but this is compensated by their beautiful fragrance in late spring to early summer.
Lonicera pileata, The privet honeysuckle is a low spreading ground cover shrub, use for mass planting to cover banks or areas of poor soil. The bush is evergreen or semi-evergreen in a hard winter, no pruning required but may be reduced in size if necessary. Will grow in heavy shade, under deciduous trees and on moist soil types. Two more interesting varieties are Lemon Beauty with yellow edged leaves and Silver Beauty that has white edges to the leaf.
Philadelphus species, A useful group of fragrant summer flowering shrubs with white single or double flowers. There is a wide selection of low growing, medium height and tall growing varieties. Good low growing species are 'Mantedu d' Hermine', 'Silver Showers' and microphyllus. Best medium height varieties 'Belle Etoile', Innocence' and 'Sybille'. Suitable tall types include 'Beauclerk'', 'Minnesota Snowflake', 'Virginal' and coronarius.
Liquidamber styraciflua, A moderately compact pyramidal tree, for good autumn colour and interesting architectural shape.
Aralia sieboldii, also known as Fatsia japonica. This evergreen shrub is best planted in a protected situation, or planted in a container and moved in a unheated glasshouse during frosty weather. This plant makes a real bold statement in the garden or on the patio in a planter, (see photo on right). Its large, shallowly indented leaves are dark green, the variegated forms are slower in growth and less hardy. An ideal plant for the cold conservatory . A near relative of this plant is Fatshedera lizei, it has similarly shaped leaves that are much smaller, its best grown against a wall where it can be tied to and get winter protection.
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Cotoneaster species, Evergreen or semi-evergreen groundcover, shrubs or trees without problems. Many different types that will flourish in even the most difficult situations. Most have red fruits in winter some like C. 'Rothschildiana' which is a tall growing form has yellow berries.
Azara microphylla, This evergreen shrub or small tree produces lots of small yellow vanilla scented flowers on the underside of the twigs in early spring. The photo on the left shows a young plant growing against a wall. It can grow up to 20' high the variegated form has cream variegated leaves and is much slower growing. If you like vanilla scent you must grow this plant.
Callicarpa giraldiana, This unusual, late flowering, autumn fruiting shrub should be more widely grown. When well established it produces a spectacular display of lilac pink flowers in late summer, followed by large clusters of vivid violet fruits. Grows to a large bush in sun or part shade, will tolerate any soil except extremely alkaline, no pruning required except to keep in shape.
Ribes laurifolium, A very unusual wall shrub, which flowers in winter. This evergreen as oval leathery leaves, the flowers hang in racemes and are yellow to light green in colour. Will require training to a wall and tying in, well worth growing if you can find it.
Photinia x fraseri 'Red Robin', A spectacular plant from New Zealand noted for its winter and early spring foliage display. Young growth produced from late autumn starts as dark red, the colour increases in intensity through winter into early spring. May be grown as a free standing shrub or trained against a wall. It will tolerate deep shade and most soils, only disliking extreme alkalinity. Pruning only required to keep the bush in shape. Young Spring foliage can be damaged by late frosts.
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Elaeagnus pungens 'Maculata', A hardy variegated freestanding shrub that will brighten up a dull winters day. This bush as small inconspicuous fragrant flowers in autumn, the fragrance is distributed through the air by light autumn winds. It will grow in sun or shade but may be unhappy in extremely alkaline and dry soils.
Cistus species, This tender shrub is worth growing in sheltered situations, it will tolerate dry soils and is best in full sun. Bushes are very free flowering, My favourite varieties include purpureus, corbariensis, 'Sunset', laurifolius and lusitanicus 'Decumbens'.
Itea ilicifolia, A little known evergreen wall shrub with 12" racemes of fragrant green ageing to yellow flowers in late summer. Likes a sheltered spot, takes a few years to get established.
Pittosporum, useful evergreen shrubs for mild areas or grown in containers as patio shrubs needing some winter protection. Unusual smal brown to purple , honey scented flowers appear in late spring on mature plants. Varieties of interest include tenuifolium with small grey-green foliage, tenuifolium 'Silver Queen' has silver variegated leaves and tenuifolinm purpureum has deep bronze outer foliage and is dwarf in habit.
Indigofera heterantha, A very under planted, attractive, mid to late summer flowering wall shrub that can be grown as a free standing shrub given some support. It is useful for growing in dry conditions, the purple / pink pea type flowers contrast well against the gray green foliage.