Choisya × dewitteana 'Aztec Pearl'
Mexican orange blossom
- Position: full sun or partial shade
- Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: fast-growing
- Flowering Period: May, but they often have a second flush in late summer or autumn
- Hardiness: fully hardy
An evergreen shrub with slender, glossy, dark green leaves, and clusters of fragrant, pink-tinged white flowers in late spring. 'Aztec Pearl' is a more compact alternative to the ubiquitous Choisya ternata. It's ideal for the back or middle of a mixed border, and in hot summers it may flower again in late summer. It can also be grown in partial shade as an attractive foliage plant. Although it's fully hardy, the leaves may be damaged by exposure to strong winds or frost. - Garden care: Any pruning should be tackled in late spring or early summer immediately after flowering, although it is not essential to maintain healthy growth. Removing 25-30cm (10-12in) off the top of the flowered stems may encourage a second flush of flowers, and at the same time you can remove any frost-damaged stems to the base.
Ceanothus thyrsiflorus 'Skylark'
Californian lilac
A haze of bright blue flowers in early summer
Vinca minor 'Gertrude Jekyll'
lesser periwinkle
Abundance of small white flowers
Rhododendron 'Azuma-kagami' (Kurume)
hybrid rhododendron (syn. Pink pearl)
Sugary pink blooms
Kolkwitzia amabilis 'Pink Cloud'
beauty bush
Graceful, arching shrub with pink flowers
Crocosmia 'Lucifer'
montbretia
Bright red flowers are ideal cut flowers
Viburnum × juddii
judd viburnum
Excellent for a partially shady spot
Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'
smoke bush
Magnificent smoke-like plumes
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Finely divided, rich-green evergreen foliage and fragrant almond-scented blush-white flowers in May (and often in late summer too) on an elegantly restrained shrub
Val Bourne - Garden Writer