Growing for Success | The best nursery finds no-one is talking about

Garden centres that keep up with trends will stock the latest popular varieties, placing them in prominent displays around the nursery where they won’t be missed.

But if you wander off the main track through the garden centre to the slightly out-of-the-way benches, you may be surprised at the hidden gems you can find.

Some of these are forever-staple varieties that can be blended into changing fashions, while others are straight-out ugly ducklings — plants you wouldn’t give a second glance unless you knew what they would grow into as they matured.

A great example of this is Gardenia thunbergia, the tree gardenia, which is in full flower right now.

It is an absolute standout as a mature plant, but seeing a young one in a pot at the garden centre, you’d need a lot of convincing to buy it.

The young plants have deformed leaves that look half-eaten and a misshapen structure overall.

However, as they mature, their leaves become more regularly shaped with a high-gloss, deep green finish, and the tree takes on a roughly oval shape, reaching about five metres high.

Their abundant flowers are perfectly formed, about seven centimetres across, and narrow down to a long tubular throat.

They are pure white and emit a heavy, sweet, tropical fragrance, especially in the evening.

They are a far cry from the young, unattractive plant growing in a pot at the nursery.

Others, like the variegated Weigela, will sit on the back benches until they come into flower in spring, producing masses of rose-pink blooms that contrast beautifully against the green and gold variegated foliage.

This deciduous shrub, which grows just over two metres high, can be placed deep in the garden, where it becomes a real feature when in flower and provides contrasting foliage in the background when not.

Osmanthus ‘Heaven Sent’ is a dense, bushy, low-growing shrub with small green leaves.

A nondescript plant reaching about 1.5 metres, it surprises in spring when it produces masses of small, highly perfumed tubular white flowers along the stems and above the foliage.

Growing in full sun to shade, it forms a quick-growing, dense low hedge or a clipped topiary plant.

With its low-maintenance requirements and beautifully fragrant flowers, it is a great, reliable alternative to many of the more commonly grown low-hedging plants.

Echium candicans, the Pride of Madeira, is often found on the back benches in garden centres, yet it can make a stunning display once mature.

This sprawling evergreen shrub grows to about 2m high and produces spectacular tall spikes of purplish-blue flowers in spring.

Thriving in hot conditions, it prefers drier soil.

While it can be a little frost-tender, it will soon bounce back with a prune after winter.

Its textured silvery-grey foliage provides an attractive contrast in the garden when not in flower.

I don’t know why, but the very showy old-fashioned shrub Spiraea cantoniensis, or the Double White May bush, hardly ever makes it off the back benches.

With its graceful, arching branches laden with clusters of small, pure white double flowers throughout spring, it could easily be worked into several garden styles.

This semi-evergreen, 2m-high shrub is extremely hardy and will grow in full sun to dappled shade.

It can be planted as a seasonal feature shrub or used as an informal hedge or screen, making it a highly versatile plant.

Another hidden delight you might come across tucked away at the back of a nursery is Browallia jamesonii, or Orange Browallia.

While they can be a bit frost-tender, when planted among other plants for protection, they will grow quite happily in our area and are well worth a try.

These evergreen, metre-high shrubs produce masses of golden-yellow to orange flower clusters that almost blanket the green leaves beneath.

They prefer a partly shaded area and are also suitable for growing in pots.

Pruning after flowering allows new growth to harden off before the onset of frosty weather.

Abelia grandiflora is another versatile, hardy shrub that is often overlooked.

Growing to around 3m high and wide, it can easily fill a space in the garden.

Its long, arching branches billow over one another, forming a bushy shrub from the ground up.

At different times of the year, it will flush with small, clear white flowers that stand out against the glossy green foliage.

A smaller variegated version, Abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’, has been very popular in recent years and has made its way on to feature display benches in nurseries.

These are just a few of the wonderful gems you can find in garden centres if you wander off the beaten path and take the time to browse through the back benches.

It’s a great way to discover something a bit unusual to make your garden stand out from the rest.