Leycesteria formosa ‘Longstock’

• Hardy deciduous shrub
• May be some die back on young plants in a hard winter as it has hollow stems, but it is root hardy and will grow away in the spring
• Any well drained soil
• Sun or shade
• Flowers white with claret coloured bracts carried in dense terminal drooping panicles from June to September
• The flowers are followed by large shining reddish-purple berries, attractive to pheasants
• In winter the olive-green hollow stems look very effective, like Cornus stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’, more so when planted with red stemmed Cornus, Dogwoods

This is a an improved selection, more compact and bushier than the species. (Leycesteria formosa comes from the Himalaya).

Leycesteria formosa ‘Longstock’ is very free-flowering. I selected out this seedling in 1995 as part of a breeding programme of Leycesteria.

Hard prune late March – early April. Feed Vitax Q4 June.