This resilient evergreen shrub has become popular because it will thrive in inhospitable, shady areas of the garden where little else will grow. It’ s low-maintenance and the spotted, dark green, pointed leaves make an excellent, dense hedge for an urban or coastal site. Small clusters of insiginificant, red-purple flowers are followed by bright red berries on female plants. Use it at the back of a mixed border to provide a foil for other, more decorative plants.

3L        30-50cm        €4.50

Buddleja can be a fabulous addition to a sunny border, with dramatic, fragrant flowers that are attractive to butterflies and other beneficial insects. Pruned hard in spring, 'Black Knight' produces dense spikes of tiny, fragrant, dark purple flowers. In autumn the pointed grey-green leaves turn butter-yellow.

2L        30-50cm        €3.50

One of the classic spring-flowering shrubs with colourful waxy flowers over fine glossy foliage. Even after flowering it is a decorative evergreen for the remainder of the year. It does need an acid soil but even if your soil is limey, it grows superbly in a large tub filled with ericaceous, or lime-free compost.

9L        80-100cm        €18.00
36L        120-150cm        €36.00

In May and June, this low-growing, evergreen shrub is smothered in fluffy, powder-blue flowers. It is easy to grow and care for, and forms a natural mound, so looks best towards the front of a mixed border with a backdrop of larger shrubs.

2L        20-40cm         €3.50