The shrub hub
TAKE YOUR PICK FROM THE SEASON’S MOST GENEROUS, BEAUTIFUL FLOWERING SHRUBS
AT the end of my garden, a neighbour’s shrub has decided to join us. Its arching stems are laden with the most beautiful pale pink flowers. On closer inspection, each of these trumpet flowers has a delicately spotted orange throat.
This is Kolkwitzia amabilis ‘Pink Cloud’, also known as the beauty bush – and with good reason. It’s a deciduous hardy shrub that asks for nothing in the way of maintenance but will produce these wonderful flowers in May and June.
It’s not fussy about soil and will even thrive in chalky soil. And it’s a most welcome, albeit uninvited, visitor and it got me thinking about other easy-care shrubs that are generous with their flowers around now.
Weigela is another trooper – perhaps overlooked as being a bit old-fashioned but that would be a mistake as it’s really quite a showy shrub when in full bloom. ‘Eva Rathke’ is a popular variety that has stood the test of time and has charming rich pink flowers.
Other varieties have foliage interwith variegated leaves or in the case of ‘Alexandra’, striking bronzepurple leaves that provide a good foil to its pink flowers.
Weigela loves a sunny site where bees will furrow into the funnelshaped flowers. Like Kolkwitzia, no pruning is necessary but if you want to rejuvenate or restrict, cut back after flowering in mid-summer.
Deutzia are easily maintained hardy shrubs that add so much colour to the summer garden.
‘Raspberry Sundae’ is a delightful one and is quite compact, which makes it ideal for pots or smaller Flowers are more brightly coloured than your usual deutzia – a pretty combination of purple-pink and white. It’s tolerant of most soils but will produce optimal blooms in full sun. Maintain its shape with a light prune after flowering.
Hebes are also unsung heroes in the garden. They are tough and low-maintenance shrubs, and as their leaves are salt and pollution tolerant, they do well in the city, coastal gardens and poor soil. They need minimal pruning and are evergreen.
‘Champagne’ is a lovely lowest spreading variety with spikes of lavender-white flowers. Hebe ‘Green Globe’ makes a viable alternative to box – it’s a compact dense little shrub with small dark green leaves so can be formed into a low hedge or neatly clipped into ball shapes.
The summer garden would not be complete without hydrangeas, a plant most forgiving of neglect that produces large mopheads, lace caps or cones of flowers in great profusion.
One variety that has recently come to my attention is ‘Merveille Sanguine’ which has deep red flowgardens.
ers. And while I love the creamy white globes of ‘Annabelle’ and raspberrytipped ‘Vanille Fraise’, I think these deep crimson flowers will pack a different punch.
But hydrangea flowers are sensitive to soil ph levels so it’s a bit of an experiment to see how true the colour will be growing on my soil. I’ll let you know!