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Prunus cistena(Purple-leaf Sand Cherry)
A really useful all round shrub, worth its space in any garden.This shrub is grown for its purple red leaves that can be effectively used as a foil or backdrop to summer flowering herbaceous plants. Purples look especially good against it as does bright red or orange. It loses its leaves in the winter but the bare twigs are slender, shiny black and are decorative in their own right. Early in the spring, before much else is moving in the garden, and before it’s own leaves emerge, the branches are adorned with small pinkish white flowers. In the Autumn there are small black fruits.
It will grow to 2m and make a rounded bush, it can also be used as a hedging plant.
This shrub is tough and easy to care for. It will grow in sun or partial shade but the colour of its leaves will be stronger if planted in a sunny spot.
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Miscanthus sacchariflorus (Silver Banner Grass)
This is a grass that looks like a bamboo. It has broad bright green leaves with a pale midrib. It grows in clumps, sending up stout canes. In a hot year it will flower, producing white plumes that last into the winter. The leaves rustle in the gentlest of breezes, making a peaceful noise in the garden and muffling sounds of the city.
It forms a very effective screen and can act as a windbreak. It will spread quite vigorously and so be prepared to dig clumps of it up and give to friends if it is becoming too much of a thug. It will grow to 2m.
The stems and plumes are retained into the winter and become a ghostly white. These must be cut back in spring to make way for the new growth from the base.
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Callicarpa bodinierii (Profusion)
This is a weird and wonderful shrub that looks quite ordinary during the summer, however come autumn it shows its true colours. First the leaves start turning a rose-purple colour, they fall to reveal masses of small lilac-purple fruits, in dense clusters that last well into the winter. The cultivar ‘Profusion’ has the added bonus of bronzey-purple new growth in the spring. This fades to green for the summer and the shrub becomes inconspicuous whilst other plants take centre stage. The tiny pale pink, star shaped produced in midsummer flowers go unnoticed, hidden by the leaves. This plant is, however well worth its space in the garden as it extends colour and interest into the Autumn.
It will grow into a rounded bush 1.5 x 1.5 m. The colour and amount of berries will be better in a sunny spot, however, it doesn’t like to bake and will grow in partial shade. Planting two or three together will ensure plenty of berries. |
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