On Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:50:56 -0000, Chris Hogg wrote:

On Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:09:10 -0000, rbel wrote:


We removed some very elderly shrubs and some rather sick large
escallonias
last autumn from some metre plus wide borders and would be grateful for
suggestions as to what to replace them with. Preferably evergreen,
flowering or just attractive foliage and shape.

The location is south Devon, about 800 metres from the coast, on a
relatively exposed hill. Two borders receive full sun for around 2/3 of
the day and another for 1/3 of the day. Frosts of any significance are
rare (even this winter) but high winds are fairly frequent. We are on
the
edge of the Devon Redlands and the soil has a fairly high clay content.
Existing planting includes various conifers, pieris, mahonia, various
broom, eryngium, photinia davidiana, some large phormium, a couple of
surviving escallonia gold ellen, various euonymous, fatsia jopinica,
skimmia, berberis darwinii.

I'm also by the sea and exposed to salt gales, but further west than
you. Minimum temps in my garden typically -2C. I have/had in my
garden:

Pittisporums, and in particular P. tobira, which has larger leaves
than P. tenuifolium. White flowers with orange blossom scent.
Buddleja colvilei, pendant panicles of large rose-red flowers
Cistus species and vars.
Callistemon species and varieties, esp. c. citrinus, gorgeous red
bottlebrushes with yellow anthers, but I lost mine last year at -6C.
Correa species, but ditto.
Euryops pectinatus. Bright yellow flowers, long season, but ditto.
Kunzea baxteri, but ditto.
Echium pininana, tall fox-tail up to 15ft (much higher on Tresco!),
covered in thousands of small pale blue borage-like flowers. Bees love
them. E. candicans syn. E. fastuosum is a shrubby species with shorter
candles of flowers, purple-blue in the best forms, slightly more
tender than e. pininata. But ditto.
Leptospermum scoparium vars. esp. Red Damask
Olearia scilloniensis, masses of brilliant white daisy flowers in
summer (but the flowers don't last long and it looks a bit sad when
they die!)
Raphiolepis vars.
Teucrium fruticans
Camellias do surprisingly well in exposed gardens by the sea, but some
varieties prefer shade or the leaves go yellow. Others are OK in full
sun. Like a humus-rich neutral to acid soil.
Cytisus battanderei, pineapple broom, bright yellow flowers in summer,
smelling of pineapple.
Myrtus communis tarentina is a small-growing myrtle
Hamamelis mollis
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian sage)
Phlomis fruticosa
Lavatera arborea
Senecio greyii
Rosmarinus vars
Ceanothus vars
Cassinia fulvida
Genista hispanica
Viburnum tinus



Looking that lot up should keep you out of trouble for a day or two!
Some may get too big for your situation.
Remember that young plants in exposed situations need staking until
they get established. I have to use at least two stakes, sometimes
three in a triangular arrangement.



Many thanks

From an initial look through I have noted the Pittisporum tobira, Euryops
and the Cytisus battandieri. We have tried batches of Echium Snow Tower,
Pink Fountain, Wildpretii and Blue Steeple repeatedly over the last four
years in increasingly gritty soil mixes but only managed to overwinter one
which we then lost this winter.

--
rbel