Eight classic ornamental trees and shrubs to plant now for long-lasting bursts of colour

When it comes to botanical longevity, it’s fair to say that annual and biennial species of plants are the “here today, gone tomorrow” ephemerals of our gardens and allotments. No sooner have they made our acquaintance, then they up and disappear like thistledown. Perennials, by comparison give far more bang for their buck, but even they can’t compare to ornamental trees and shrubs, many of which are easily capable of outliving their owners by decades, sometimes centuries.

This, I suspect, is also why we’re sometimes wary of planting them. What if we choose badly? Or come to regret or dislike them? What if they become unruly, or too big for their boots, or cast unwanted shade, or suck up too much moisture and nutrients at the expense of smaller, easier to keep-in-check species. How much care will they need in terms of routine pruning, feeding, mulching and deadheading, and what if we’re not always able to provide it?

Truth be told, the very fact that these plants can serve as a sort of long-lasting horticultural testament to our aptitude (or not) for gardening, is also a little daunting. If/when it goes badly, then it can be like forever being confronted with a photograph of our younger selves sporting the sort of haircut we once loved but would now like the world to forget.

All of which brings me neatly to the idea of gardening classics, those species of ornamental trees and shrubs that share the ability to be always admired while others fall in and out of fashion. Some are in bloom right now or soon will be, enduring woody stars of the early spring flower garden, whose wattage never fades.

So, here’s a handy little seasonal shortlist.

Elegant and understated yet with a stately presence all their own, these exceptionally