Offering both colourful foliage and an abundance of early summer flowers, this decorative shrub is a showstopper! At the start of the season the leaves are green - and they offer a beautiful backdrop for the pink trumpet-shaped flowers. As these start to fade in midsummer, the leaves start to take on a bronze flush, and this intensifies as summer turns to autumn, so by the end of the season the foliage has turned a rich, fiery red. It's a great shrub for adding intense colour, but keep in mind that while this plant can tolerate a little shade, the colour is at its best when its grown in full sun.

1. Garden care: Once established prune each year in mid-summer after flowering, removing one or two of the older stems to the base and cutting back the flowered stems to strong shoots below the spent flowers.