Let’s hear it for shrubs
‘There are shrubs in flower every month of the year’
SHRUBS are back in fashion. For COUNTRY LIFE readers, of course, they were never out. They have long been the principal element in our gardens, both for their structure and for their intrinsic beauty. Pause to think about it: roses are shrubs; the plants we use for hedging are shrubs; the rhododendrons that grace our woodlands are shrubs; rosemary and lavender are shrubs; the great berry-bearers such as cotoneasters and pyracanthas are shrubs. The wonder is that anyone ever thought that sweeps of perennials and grasses were enough to make a garden.
Shrubs define our gardens. Shrubs, whether evergreen. ‘Christmas Cheer’ will be a lightbulb moment.
