For a medium-sized shrub that will bring architectural interest to your garden all year long, Fatsia japonica is just the ticket! A spectacular evergreen shrub, it produces impressively large, serrated, glossy green leaves, which remain throughout the year, giving interest in all seasons. Also known as the Japanese Aralia, mature Fatsia plants produce exotic spikes of creamy white flowers, followed by attractive deep purple, almost black berries. Definitely a plant for novice gardeners and seasoned pros alike, Fatsia japonica will grow well in any garden and is a great plant for difficult shady areas where other plants struggle, in fact they perform best in light or dappled shade, making a glossy backdrop to other plants with their amazing palm-like leaves. Holder of a much deserved RHS Award of Garden Merit, plants really need very little attention to give you amazing results whether you are strapped for time or a complete gardening novice, and you can be sure that this is a plant that has been rigorously trialled and proven to excel in UK gardens. Fatsia is also a great plant to complement a large decorative pot on the patio, where its architectural shape can make a dramatic, tropical feature. Supplied as an established plant approx. 60cm tall, in a 17cm pot, ready for planting straight out into the garden.
With glossy green leaves and highly fragrant flowers this fantastic honeysuckle is perfect whether scrambling over a pergola of covering an unsightly fence or wall. It's fully hardy and bears green foliage through all but the hardest winters giving a year round display. These well established plants will give plenty of flowers this year.
Kerria japonica 'Golden Guinea', also known as the ?Japanese Rose?, is an easy-to-grow deciduous shrub with arching stems that are filled with yellow flowers in spring. The original Kerria japonica cultivar was discovered by William Kerr, a young gardener from Kew who was employed by the East India Company in 1804 to search for undiscovered plants in China to be brought back to grow in British gardens. ?Golden Guinea? is bigger and brighter than those original plants, holding an RHS AGM. A good shrub for cottage and woodland style gardens, it will fill the garden with colour during the bleak winter months. Height: 2m (6',5). Spread: 2.5m (8').
Mahonia japonica is a popular shrub, instantly recognisable for its distinctive spiky leaves and long racemes of golden winter flowers. The blooms appear in profusion from November through to March, releasing a strong ?lily-of-the-valley? perfume.
A tall-growing, evergreen and vigorous bamboo, Pseudosasa japonica produces a dense growth of hollow canes with arrow-shaped, shiny green leaves. Spikes of greeny-brown flowers can appear at any time of year. Forming attractive and long-lasting clumps, it is ideal for hedges or screening - or even as a windbreak for patio or barbecue areas. One of the fastest-growing bamboos, it is slowly invasive if left unchecked, so best in large pots, or with plenty of space in lawns. If you are planting near a wall or foundations, remember to use a physical barrier. It is tolerant of hot summers and cold winters, although leaves can be damaged by extreme cold and wind. Damaged leaves can be removed in spring as the new shoots emerge. Very hardy, it needs little care, but make sure your plants are well-watered in summer and don't let them dry out if you are growing yours in a pot. Supplied as 2 x 60-70cm tall plants in a 1L pot ready to plant out or re-pot.
A striking dwarf evergreen shrub whose light green leaves have fine white margins. Pieris japonica 'Little Heath' is perfect for adding winter interest to the garden, where it forms a colourful tidy mound. The new spring foliage is flushed purple and is followed by lovely racemes of creamy, bell-shaped flowers emerging from pink buds. Thanks to its small size Pieris 'Little Heath' is fantastic for the front of borders or patio containers where the flowers also attract pollinating insects. Height and spread: 60cm (24).
Pieris japonica 'Passion' is at its best in spring, when its whorled, vivid red foliage appears alongside a profusion of small, red-pink flowers. Easy to maintain and compact, this ?Lily of the Valley Shrub? needs minimal pruning, but can be kept pruned to a required size (and this will encourage vigorous flowering). Pieris japonica 'Passion' is happiest growing in borders with acidic soil, or containers filled with ericaceous (acid) compost. Height and Spread: 2.5m (8').
Crimson flowers crown silvery stems that rise above rosettes of foliage from late spring. This robust little perennial holds an RHS AGM and creates a wonderful display in shady, damp spots and woodlands. For the best impact, plant Primula 'Miller's Crimson' in large drifts. Height and spread: 45cm (18)
Skimmia japonica 'Rubella' is a plant that offers year round interest with glossy evergreen foliage, and during summer, dense panicles of small, fragrant white flowers, followed by clusters of red buds in autumn and winter. It is a hassle free plant suitable for woodland gardens, and patio planters, or borders in shaded parts of the garden. Height and spread: 80cm (31).
If you're looking for a perfect garden plant then 'Rubella' has it all - it's compact, low-maintenance, grows in dappled shade, looks good all year, has fragrant flowers and is wildlife-friendly. It's one of those 'plant it and leave it' shrubs, so there's little wonder why they sell out so quickly! Skimmia japonica 'Rubella' is a compact, bushy evergreen shrub with cones of red buds which open to fragrant white flowers in early spring - A classic plant for winter or spring containers where the dark, leathery leaves provide a super background for its showy flowers. All parts of this award-winning plant have a pleasant fragrance when crushed, not unlike ..... so, position them near doorways, entrances or windows so that you can appreciate the scent too. Most individual varieties of Skimmias are either male or female - 'Rubella' is male so will not produce berries - but when you see and smell the gorgeous scented flowers, they more than make up for that. Skimmia plants are slow growing, so little pruning is needed - which is great if you have little time to be messing around with secateurs and pruning manuals - in fact, it is better not to trim them at all, if possible. Add to this the fact that 'Rubella' holds an RHS award of garden merit and you can be assured that it will perform in your garden.
Masses of eye-catching pure white flowers cover this deciduous shrub from mid-summer, attracting many beneficial insects to the garden. Planted on mass, this Japanese Spiraea will reward you with an abundance of colour and texture, forming neat rounded, spreading plants that are easy to maintain and will suppress weeds. The arching branches of Spiraea japonica ?Albiflora? bear small oval leaves which make the perfect backdrop, even after flowering, when its fabulous autumn colours start to show. Planted in borders, containers or wildlife gardens, this superb shrub really isn?t that fussy. Height: 60cm (24?). Spread: 90cm (36?).
An all-round brilliant performer in almost any garden situation, boasting dark orange foliage in spring, changing to golden yellow in summer and fiery golden-orange shades in autumn. All summer long, large pink flowers provide an outstanding display and are particularly attractive to butterflies. Spiraea japonica ?Double Play Gold? is a deciduous shrub which looks superb planted on mass and individually, in borders and wildlife gardens. Easy to care for and very resilient, perfect for beginner gardeners and those looking for sudden impact. Height and spread: 90cm (3?).