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I am frustrated by the amount of interest in new plants, and the lack of it when it comes to those good, reliable performers that hold our gardens together. It is probably because we are all attracted by a plant that looks good in its pot when we see it at the garden centre. Pretty flowers are so appealing, but do they mean that a plant is just a pretty face?
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What will it look like for the rest of the year? Will it be just a one month wonder? Or will it have more than one season of interest? It is always amazing how many new plants are like X Factor stars – they have their five minutes of fame, and then disappear into oblivion. The plants that last are good, reliable, tried and tested favourites that deliver more than one season of interest year after year.
Take good old Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald Gaiety’ for example; a low, sprawling shrub with pretty, dark green and white variegated leaves that tinge pink in winter weather, especially if the plant is in an open, sunny position. It grows on any soil in sun or shade and is excellent as ground cover under trees, or at the front of a border to spill over the edge of paving or steps. A useful addition to patio containers it can also be used as a short climber and is particularly successful up walls and fences in shade.
If you think of it as a common, evergreen, dwarf shrub it might not be that appealing. However if you see it as an essential ingredient in a green and white scheme with Choisya ternata, Sarcococca confusa and Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ you will soon realise that it is the white in the euonymus leaves that maintain the colour throughout the year.
If you think of it as a common, evergreen, dwarf shrub it might not be that appealing. However if you see it as an essential ingredient in a green and white scheme with Choisya ternata, Sarcococca confusa and Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ you will soon realise that it is the white in the euonymus leaves that maintain the colour throughout the year.
Of course Choisya ternata is another of those ultimate garden shrubs. It is a wonderful evergreen, forming a mounded shrub up to 1.5 metres in height, although height and spread is easily controlled with light pruning. The emerald green leaves are shining and aromatic; they are rich in oils which make the plant drought tolerant and unpalatable to deer and rabbits.
Some people do not like the smell, but it is unlikely to offend unless you come into direct contact with it. It grows in sun or shade on any welldrained soil and flowers twice a year, in spring and then again in autumn. Choisya is a marvellous structure plant with the benefit of fragrant, white flowers that are attractive to bees and butterflies.
Some people do not like the smell, but it is unlikely to offend unless you come into direct contact with it. It grows in sun or shade on any welldrained soil and flowers twice a year, in spring and then again in autumn. Choisya is a marvellous structure plant with the benefit of fragrant, white flowers that are attractive to bees and butterflies.
In a sunny spot it would make a good planting partner for the white Potentilla ‘Abbotswood’. This has grey-green, finely divided leaves and masses of those buttercup flowers that are characteristic of all potentillas. Potentillas may not be the most prepossessing plants in winter; they become tangled masses of brown twigs festooned with the dried remains of leaves and flowers. That is the time to give them a trim before the new leaves appear in spring.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’
They start to bloom in June and continue into November – not bad value for money. Potentillas grow on any soil, in sun or semi-shade; they are brilliant on chalk. Just imagine a Choisya with its flowers in spring and autumn, flowers from the potentilla throughout the summer and white winter colour
from – yes, you have guessed it – it’s that Euonymus ‘Emerald Gaiety’ again.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is a wonderful plant when used in the right location. If you are expecting the typical, rigid, hydrangea growth habit you will be a little disconcerted by Annabelle‘s slender, rather soft stems and large, softly felted, green leaves. The flowerheads are like green snowballs that turn from green to cream, and then white, weighing down the stems as they grow larger, becoming rather like snowy, natural sponges.
It forms a clump of shoots and is best further back in a bed or border behind low shrubs or perennials. It is excellent under trees with shrubs like Viburnum davidii. When I was in Holland in July, gardens were full of whitestemmed birches underplanted with Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ behind large clumps of white variegated hostas and Sarcococca confusa. This simple combination is so effective, cool and calming.
Another of my ‘Desert Island Shrubs’ is Berberis thunbergii ‘Harlequin’. I use this plant with roses, perennials or other shrubs. Its dark red-purple foliage is such a good mixer and intensifies other colours planted alongside.
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is a wonderful plant when used in the right location. If you are expecting the typical, rigid, hydrangea growth habit you will be a little disconcerted by Annabelle‘s slender, rather soft stems and large, softly felted, green leaves. The flowerheads are like green snowballs that turn from green to cream, and then white, weighing down the stems as they grow larger, becoming rather like snowy, natural sponges.
It forms a clump of shoots and is best further back in a bed or border behind low shrubs or perennials. It is excellent under trees with shrubs like Viburnum davidii. When I was in Holland in July, gardens were full of whitestemmed birches underplanted with Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ behind large clumps of white variegated hostas and Sarcococca confusa. This simple combination is so effective, cool and calming.
Another of my ‘Desert Island Shrubs’ is Berberis thunbergii ‘Harlequin’. I use this plant with roses, perennials or other shrubs. Its dark red-purple foliage is such a good mixer and intensifies other colours planted alongside.
The berberis keeps the colour going when roses takes a break. It is fabulous with the lovely Rosa ‘Harlow Carr’ with its shallow, cupped, pink blooms. This is a new rose that has a great deal of old rose character about it. It is a tolerant good doer that does not get disease and flowers almost all the way down to the ground. As part of a planting scheme with shrubs it will really earn its keep.
In a sunny spot on well-drained soil the brilliant, cerise pink Cistus ‘Sunset’ will flower from June into October. Those single, golden eyed blooms are so eye catching and are the perfect partner for the dark foliage and pinkish young shoots of the berberis. The cistus is evergreen, so its soft, sage-green leaves will provide some winter interest after the leaves of the berberis have turned to flame and fallen in autumn.
Variegated foliage adds so much to any garden. Cornus alba ‘Sibirica Variegata’ is one of the hardest working foliage shrubs. This one only grows to a metre or so in height so is suitable even for small gardens. The dark green foliage is marbled with pale, grey-green and heavily variegated with white, flushed pink near the leaf stalks.
The foliage turns pink and ruby in autumn, before the leaves fall to reveal dark red stems. If that is not enough it often produced clusters of white berries at the tips of the shoots. This cornus is light and pretty enough to combine with perennials and roses and is lovely with nepeta and blue geraniums.
Andy McIndoe
The foliage turns pink and ruby in autumn, before the leaves fall to reveal dark red stems. If that is not enough it often produced clusters of white berries at the tips of the shoots. This cornus is light and pretty enough to combine with perennials and roses and is lovely with nepeta and blue geraniums.
Andy McIndoe
