It is ideally suited for rock garden or raised bed. Much taller-up to 6ft(2m) is O. rostnarinijo-lius, which is dense and erect in habit with narrow green leaves and red-budded white flowers in tight clusters. Full sun and a well-drained site are required by these last three, while in the coldest areas they require protection from frost. Even if frost should claim them they are easily rooted from cuttings and a stock should be kept in reserve for such happenings. Hardier, and therefore more reliable for colder gardens, are the hyper-icums. Most gardeners plant Hypericum 'Hidcote' but there are several others worth considering among which H. kouytchense is a gem. Low in habit (3ft[im]) its arching stems are covered with large yellow flowers in which the long bold stamens are prominent. These appear from June to October and are replaced by colourful bright red seed capsules. H. forrestiiis taller growing 4 to 5ft(i.25 to 1.5m) similarly rounded and compact in habit and free flowering with saucer-shaped, golden-yellow flowers through summer into autumn. The yellow flowers of the hypericums contrast effectively with the blue flowers of Ceratostigma willmottianum, another low deciduous shrub and together they make colourful and satisfying late summer and autumn flowering groups to which may be added dwarf potentillas such as 'Tangerine', 'Elizabeth', 'Goldfinger' and 'Lady Dares-bury' all yellow flowered, orange in the first named. Others which provide late summer flowers include Penstemon 'Garnet', a subshrub with erect panicles of drooping red tubular flowers; Fuchsia magellanica and its forms, as well as many hybrid fuchsias; and Caryopterisxdandonensis 'Heavenly Blue' with bright blue flowers. Whilst most buckeyes are trees there is one which is most certainly a shrub although, in ideal conditions, its suckering propensities will eventually fill a large area with erect stems up to loftfjm). Its name is Aesculus parviflora and there can be few more attractive summer-flowering shrubs than this when its erect, cylindrical panicles appear like candles from the tips of the shoots. Each white flower is equipped with a brush of long, slender red-anthered stamens and the overall effect is quite breath-taking. Anyone who has admired the yellow flowers of the broom in woodland rides and on native heaths will appreciate the value of such displays in the garden. The brooms, collectively encompass a wide variety of shrubs varying mainly in habit and flower colour. The majority flower in late spring or early summer but there are several which begin later, in late June or July. Of these, two are notable for their large size ю to 15ft by 10 to 15ft (3 to 4.5 by 3 to 4.5m) eventually and elegant sprays of yellow pea flowers. Genista tenera (G. cinerea of gardens) is the first to flower in late June continuing into July. It is followed by the Mount Etna broom, Genista aetnensis, which is even more elegant with its slender, rush-like green branches dripping with small golden-yellow pea-flowers.