I have a lot of green and some variegated shrubs but would like to introduce some other colours such as purple into the garden. I do have a couple of Red Robins. If there are any that are not deciduous that would be great. Thanks
Thank you all for the great suggestions so far, I hope there are more yet to come. Pete8, re the Sambucas, I was tempted by this but worried that it might get too big, are these easy to keep at a reasonable height/width? Thanks again
Pittosporum Tenuifolium Tom Thumb, evergreen wavy leaf shrub. Caryopteris Chandonensis. Not evergreen but a perfect low growing shrub for free draining soil in full sun. If you are in a sheltered area, a frost hardy shrub Coprosma Repens Pacific Sunset from the Pacific range. Glossy evergreen shrub that can thrive in free draining soil.
Thank you all for the great suggestions so far, I hope there are more yet to come. Pete8, re the Sambucas, I was tempted by this but worried that it might get too big, are these easy to keep at a reasonable height/width? Thanks again
They're easy to control. You can cut the whole thing back to 1ft in the spring and over summer it'll reach about 5ft. If you cut all of it right back, you wont get flowers. What I do is to cut some of it back to about 1ft and leave some of last year's growth, so it's kept in control and you still get flowers. You can hack it back anytime - they're really tough. I'll take off some of the top growth in a few days. This is mine taken just now - I've had it about 10yrs
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Purple foliage and evergreen don’t seem to come as a package very often, but are my ideal combination! The only one I have so far is Pittosporum Atropurpureum, the leaves are so deeply purple it looks almost black, but I love my various (deciduous) Berberis for their purple/plum/red foliage and Cotinus Royal Purple similarly.
I thought Sambucus would get too big, so that’s good to know Pete8.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
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Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
blue spruce - sort of toothpaste turquoise which stands out against the yellower tones of green that are more common
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Caryopteris Chandonensis. Not evergreen but a perfect low growing shrub for free draining soil in full sun. If you are in a sheltered area, a frost hardy shrub Coprosma Repens Pacific Sunset from the Pacific range. Glossy evergreen shrub that can thrive in free draining soil.
You can cut the whole thing back to 1ft in the spring and over summer it'll reach about 5ft. If you cut all of it right back, you wont get flowers. What I do is to cut some of it back to about 1ft and leave some of last year's growth, so it's kept in control and you still get flowers.
You can hack it back anytime - they're really tough. I'll take off some of the top growth in a few days.
This is mine taken just now - I've had it about 10yrs
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I thought Sambucus would get too big, so that’s good to know Pete8.