Weigela

@Verdun I've planted my hollies close enough together that they will merge slightly with each other, which rules out anything in between. I like Cotinus but it's not something I would like in my front garden. It faces north-west and even though I've recently had three large trees removed there are still six pines, a Sycamore and a Beech out there, all over 40ft in height and taking away light.

This picture is after the trees were felled.

I've planted the Hollies on the right hand side (no pictures as yet) along the length of the garden so only one can be seen from my house. On the other lawn I'm about to plant in a group: Weigela 'Briant Rubidor Olympiade' as in post #12, Viburnum Tinus 'Gwenllian' and when I can find someone that has stock, Philadelphus Minnesota 'Snowflake' (not the mini form). These all flower at slightly different times and apart from the Viburnum are light in colour. The aim with both flowers and foliage is to lighten up the garden as much as possible.

They are all very young plants and will look lost until they put on growth but I haven't got a problem with that. Again, I'm living with a difficult soil (sandy loam) and I find that younger plants settle their roots easier than something more mature. I discovered that in my last garden which had coastal sandy soil.

 

I have two purple ones also, love the dark leaf color against the green around them, it looks nice with a large blue hosta near them.