Hardy shrubs

Cistus, but I always call them Rock Rose, I love them.

Cistus! - that's it!! Thanks.

Irises usually like full sun. Their rhizomes need to be near the surface so they can bake so maybe they have been planted too deeply. They also need free draining soil.

If you want to grow Cistus, do check that your soil is free draining because they are Mediterranean plants.

I love them.

PS. Cistus are not always reliably hardy but I don't suppose you have a problem with bitterly cold east winds as we do.

Mine has suffered terribly from the winter this time. Not even sure whether it will flower this year ☹️. We have east winds too.

I know it’s not a shrub, per se, but I have an erysium Bowles Mauve which is now a sizeable plant and has just started flowering its head off, which it will do all year. Very winter hardy.

Potentilla (the shrubby varieties) have very a long flowering period. They don’t grow too fast either so need minimal maintenance. I’ve found that the yellow ones are stronger growers than the pink ones.

I have several Pontentillia, love them, after winter when they start to grow those little green shoots, cheers me up. I have yellow one which is ten years old, call it 'old faithful , it has moved three times with me, thought last year was its last but no ?

We have several ' Pieris ' in our garden , Forest Flame is my favourite, at this time of the year they herald in spring with their beautiful white flowers and vivid red new foliage.

Alongside them the lilacs , the dark blue and light blue 'Caenothus ' and pure white flowers of the s ' Spiraea ' are striking . Azalea and Gardenia are hardy little souls and the beauty is you can keep them all to the size you require as they do not mind being pruned .

I love cistus purpureus.
I always have a few of these in the garden or in pots. I live fairly near you in the Forest of Dean and have had lots of snow too luckygirl, but they all survived. Apart from a broken twig or two.
Erysium bowles mauve is very useful and hardy.
I’ve got a flowering hedge of St John’s Wort which is reliable too. And philadelphus, with its spectacular scent, is very hardy.

There are several varieties of Cistus, some are small with small flowers ( obvs) but you can get a larger shrub variety. I have a lovely one, about a metre high, with white flowers that have a purple centre.

My Forest Flame Pieris are so beautiful now, red foliage and the white bells in full burst of colour right now.

I thought I'd lost one of my hardy fuschia's, it got too big last year so I gave it a really hard chop back in late Autumn. After all the snow and cold it didn't look very hopeful for it. Yesterday I was out in the garden attacking some weeds and noticed green shoots at the base of it. It's a very pale pink flower and is usually a mass of blooms so I am very pleased I didn't kill it off!
I have a yellow Phygelius plant, it flowers for a long time and has gradually spread into a nice size over the years. Gets about 18 inches high. You can also get a pink one.

Shrubs that survived the snow in my garden include:
Azaleas (flowering now)
Hebes
Euonymus
Pieris
Camelia
Lavenders
Potentilla
Cistus ... yes, survived but some parts died off. They tend to get a bit leggy and messy after a few years.
Some of my fuscias survived - look for "hardy" ones.

If you have a Morrisons near you, have a look at their plants. They're terrific value, and often good quality plants (do select carefully, though, as a few get neglected).

Thanks so much for this cornucopia of brilliant ideas!

I have planted two cistus (I have one already and it happily survived the snow; one white lilac; and a pieris. Fingers crossed they all survive - they are getting a good watering anyway!

Have you already dug up the Fuschias, Lucky? I was convinced that mine was dead but only this week a few tiny leaves have begun to sprout at the base.

They have been dug up - they really did look very sick. I scoured the based and there was not a hint. Let us hope I made the right decision - too late now!!