Large shrub suggestion?

pawrick

Hi, thanks to the recent strong winds a small tree/shrub (8 ft tall approx) I had near my conservatory has toppled over.

I'd like to replace it now given the opportunity to add a bit of colour rather than try to replant it in the same spot.

What I'm looking for is something which wont lose its leaves in winter so that I have year round cover from the road and preferably something which would draw butterflies/birds and can be maintained at around 6ft.

Other plants/trees doing well around my garden if it helps are lilac, smoke bush, ash, willow, beech, lavender, red robin, laurel. Site is sunny where the plant will go.

As it will be a stand alone plant it will need to be wind resistant and be suitable to be planted approx 5 foot from my conservatory.

All suggestions are welcome, thanks

looksee

Berberis maybe? Various different sizes, flower shades (yellow/orange) leaf sizes, berries. Can make a nice big shrub if it is pruned with care and just enough to improve it rather than making topiary of it.

macraignil

Buddleja are the best shrubs for attracting butter flies in my opinion and I have read some varieties are evergreen. Some are deciduous so be carefully which you pick if being evergreen is important. The common variety I have seems to hold some leaves for most of the year. The flowering is improved by deadhedding the old flowers and they can recover from severe pruning in winter.
Viburnum tinus might also be worth considering but it flowers during colder months of the year when there might not be as many butter flies around.

wildwillow

While berberis is nice it's thorns make it a nuisance, I would go with the buddlia, dwarf varieties are now available. Pruning will keep the regular one small and will help with flowering.

Ms2011

Lavatera x Clementii Burgundy Wine, one of my favourite shrubs, low maintenance, evergreen, lengthy flowering period with beautiful pinky/purply blooms that bees & butterflies love.

pawrick

Thanks for the suggestions, had been thinking of Buddleia when i mentioned butterflies but didnt think it would look too well in the winter. Will investigate some of the varieties available with the local garden centres.

macraignil

Just thought of Olearia which do hold their leaves over winter and might also be worth considering.

highdef

macraignil wrote: »

Just thought of Olearia which do hold their leaves over winter and might also be worth considering.

That's only hardy to about -10 so if we get another very bad cold winter like 2010 (and the current suggestion is that this be a seriously cold winter), then it might be killed....depending on OP's location, of course (Rosmeathdub)

pawrick

highdef wrote: »

That's only hardy to about -10 so if we get another very bad cold winter like 2010 (and the current suggestion is that this be a seriously cold winter), then it might be killed....depending on OP's location, of course (Rosmeathdub)

In the midlands, north of Athlone so that's out based on the temp. alright.

Buddleia appears to grow fine in the area based on wild growing plants I've noticed. Soil is clay rather than sandy but not waterlogged. Looks like I'll be going for the buddleia if i can get a plant with anything other than the regular purple colour. I also like the Lavatera x Clementii Burgundy Wine suggested, we had similar in my parents house but I cant recall what happened to it, it was doing well so it must have been removed at some point.

New Home

How about Oleander? It's poisonous, though.

mountainy man

For something a bit different in a buddleia I would suggest B globosa, it has orange ball like clusters of flowers in may/june and is evergreen in all but the harshest of winters, bees love it.

I have had no problems with Olearia hardiness here ( specifically macrodonta) I have three of them and they breezed through 2010 when it got down to -16 at my location, with no bother at all

griffzinho

Stanvaesia Davidiana is a lovely shrub and an absolute bee magnet when in flower.

New Home

Ceanothus! Lovely, lovely blue flowers, and if I'm not mistaken, it's evergreen, too.

pawrick

New Home wrote: »

Ceanothus! Lovely, lovely blue flowers, and if I'm not mistaken, it's evergreen, too.

Really liking the look of that one alright, will try to track it down. I'm probably going to go for a few of the suggestions here as there are some really nice looking ones and I have plenty of free space.

Billgirlylegs

pawrick wrote: »

Really liking the look of that one alright, will try to track it down. I'm probably going to go for a few of the suggestions here as there are some really nice looking ones and I have plenty of free space.

I have had a couple die in cold winters.
Known as California lilac?
Not the hardiest in exposed areas?
Midlands aren't noted for mild winters.

pawrick

Billgirlylegs wrote: »

I have had a couple die in cold winters.
Known as California lilac?
Not the hardiest in exposed areas?
Midlands aren't noted for mild winters.

thanks for that info. gonna do some research over the weekend on the above suggestions and run them by the local garden centre

highdef

Billgirlylegs wrote: »

I have had a couple die in cold winters.
Known as California lilac?
Not the hardiest in exposed areas?
Midlands aren't noted for mild winters.

Mine took a hit last winter, with the very heavy snow killing a fair bit of the shrub. I cut off the dead sections and it recovered amazingly during the summer. Had to prune it back again last week. If getting one of these, I would plant in late spring after the last of the frosts have passed. This will give it time to get plenty of growth during the summer and autumn, thereby increasing its chances should a cold winter follow.

Apart from the beautiful flowers, the scent is gorgeous and they attract so many bees and butterflies.

I live in the east midlands, in a frost hollow.

New Home

There are quite a few plants ceanothus near Heuston station, IIRC. There also used to be a huge, huge one in a garden on the North Strand Road/Fairview in Dublin, in the garden of one of the terraced houses, which in fairness is a very sheltered spot, but I haven't been there in ages so I don't know if it's still there.

macraignil

There is some variation in varieties of Ceonothus to keep in mind as well. I have a few shrubs with at least three seeming to be different varieties. One has a larger leaf and seems to be growing into a small tree. One has a distinctly different flower arrangement and another seems to have a much more spreading rather than vertical growth pattern. Had two that died back a bit but have recovered when allowed time to grow back.

Doctors room ghost

St. John’s wort is a grand shrub.lovely flowers

looksee

You can use ceonothus flowers as soap. If you feel so inclined and run out of the regular stuff.

New Home

Cool!

Fiftyplus

I'd second Ceonothus. Another worth a look at is Grevillea - evergreen, arching stems and red flowers.

Hocus Focus

I'm not so sure about Buddliea if you also intend to grow cabbage

New Home

Good point!