Peter Catt’s 10 favourite shrubs

Rhododendron Blaauw’s Pink (Kurume) AGM

One of Wilson’s 50, this compact evergreen Japanese azalea flowers in April or early May, generally missing frost. It’s stronger than many, with soft salmon-pink flowers held above dark-green foliage. For partial shade and acid soil, or containerise in ericaceous compost. 3ft by 3ft

Cornus kousa Miss Satomi AGM

This dogwood has a spreading habit, with pink flowers (more correctly, bracts) sitting on top of the branches. Full sun or partial shade and perfect in the middle of a border or as a specimen in lawn. Neutral to acid soil. 6ft by 10ft

Abelia x grandiflora Lake Maggiore AGM

A refined form of this Italian hybrid, first raised at Rovelli

Nursery on Lake Maggiore in 1886. This has slightly fragrant clusters of white, bellshaped flowers between June and October. Prune in March if space is limited. Any soil and full sun. 5ft by 6ft

Mahonia x media Lionel Fortescue AGM

A November-flowering bee pleaser with rich-green foliage and a cockade of lucid-yellow fragrant flowers. Remove the previous year’s growth after flowering. Grows in shade, on any soil. 7ft by 7ft

Cotinus coggygria Smokey Joe

A compact, green-leaved smoke bush with pale-pink puffs of smoke in summer. The flowers fade to leave a tracery of wiry stems; the plant hangs onto these until autumn. Full sun among tall grasses and perennials on any soil. Found at Sheffield Park in East Sussex and introduced by Peter. 5ft by 5ft

Osmanthus delavayi AGM A Chinese evergreen, with tiny dark-green leaves and sweetly scented, pure-white tubular flowers running up the stems in late spring. Good to cut for foliage or flower. Full sun or partial shade. 8ft by 8ft

Enkianthus campanulatus An upright, woodland shrub, with masses of delicate bellshaped greenish flowers, tinged with pink, hanging down in clusters. Good autumn foliage follows. Lime-free soil, but not too dry. 12ft

Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum Elizabeth Bullivant

Tiered branches, with good, green foliage, support lacecap white flowers in April and

May. Red berries follow and the plant often produces a later crop of flowers among the red berries. From the late Elizabeth Bullivant’s Stourhead House in Wiltshire. Prune after flowering. 6ft by 8ft

Berberis x stenophylla Etna

Bright-green foliage with fieryorange buds that open to orange-yellow flowers in April and May. This statement evergreen sometimes produces a lesser flush in autumn. Prune after flowering to keep it more compact. 8ft to 10ft

Halimium calcynium Full sun and good drainage are required for this cistus-like relative, with grey-green foliage and pure-yellow, modestly sized saucers produced in midsummer. Flowers close up in the afternoon. 4ft