"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...

(snip)
IME ceanothus are not long-lived,
Not IME. They may not make 100, but 30 years shouldn't be beyond them. I
had C.'Zanzibar' going for 14 years, through some of the hottest summers
and coldest winters, and it also survived being pulled over and half out
of the ground by wet snow. As it's variegated, it might possibly be
considered weaker than a normal ceanothus. When I moved and left it
behind it was about 4 metres high and 3 across.

And it is not unusual to see 5 - 6m or even higher bushes is some of the
bigger NGS (and other) gardens. Although, of course, it would depend
where you are. I don't know how well they'd get on in the colder areas of
the UK.

I have two here which are more than ten years old and they cope fine with
the winter cold (down to -20C). they are however against a wall, so remain
quite dry in the winter.

Phil
Northern Highlands of Scotland