Top 5... summer shrubs
These plants for sun or shade will help keep your garden blooming
1 Abelia grandiflora
Long-flowered, semi-evergreen, arching shrub with small, glossy, green leaves. Pale-pink, funnel-shaped flowers sit in rusty-red calyces. Provide a sheltered, sunny position in moist, well-drained soil. H/S: 2.5m (8¼ft). Tip Effective when trained as a wall shrub. From www.crocus.co.uk; tel: 01344 578111.
2 Buddleja ‘Unique’
Compact, mounding variety of B. alternifolia producing arching stems clothed in lilac-purple, sterile flowers from June to October. Slender, silvery-green foliage. Ideal for pots and containers on a patio. Any moist, well-drained soil in sun. H/S: 90cm (3ft). Tip Cut back stems by half to encourage more bushy growth. From www.crocus.co.uk; tel: 01344 578111.
3 Fuchsia magellanica ‘Hawkshead’
Bushy, upright, hardy (to -10C/14C) fuchsia producing slender, white blossoms tinged green from summer into autumn. Produces a thicket of stems, so thin out clumps by cutting old stems to the base in April. Any moist, well-drained soil in sun to semi-shade. H/S: 1.2m (4ft). Tip Can be used to make an informal hedge. From www.burncoose.co.uk; tel: 01209 860316.
4 Hydrangea ‘Miss Saori’
Award-winning H. macrophylla variety flowering on old and new growth for a long season of interest. Fully-double bracts have eye-catching, rose-pink picotee edge. Bronze-purple tinted foliage contrasts from summer. Good in pots. Any moist, well-drained soil in semi-shade. H/S: 90cm (3ft).
Tip Allow flower heads to remain for winter interest, then hard prune in early spring.
From www.thompson-morgan.com; tel: 0844 573 1818.
5 Philadelphus ‘Sweet Clare’
Very different mock-orange producing a haze of downward-pointing, red-centred flowers in June and July. Very sweetly honey scented. Arching stems clothed in small, grey-green leaves. Any moist, well-drained soil in sun or semi-shade. H/S: 1.5m (5ft).
Tip Prune after flowering in late summer, removing weak shoots.
From www.crocus.co.uk; tel: 01344 578111.