On 06/02/2014 14:46, sacha wrote:
On 2014-02-05 19:03:06 +0000, Jeff Layman said:


Maybe some of the fastigiate Cornus might meet the bill. But if you
can do without the spring flowers, and get them at a time of the year
when not much else will be in flower, then Eucryphia x nymansensis
‘Nymansay’ or E. cordifolia might be worth consideration.

Could be a bit chilly for Eucryphia?

I believe that they may well be a lot hardier than often thought, in
particular Eucryphia x nymansensis ‘Nymansay’:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~gdk/sta.../septpom02.htm

I am not sure if the original plant is still at Nymans, but there are a
number of fairly large Eucryphias there. They must have survived some
cold winters, and, as far as I remember, they are not in the walled
garden. True, Sussex isn't Cambridgeshire, but it can get cold. I
guess that Nick could always take a stroll over to the Cambridge Botanic
Gardens to see if there is anything growing there which takes his fancy.

--

Jeff