This shrub is deciduous so it will lose all its leaves in autumn, then fresh new foliage appears again each spring.

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: fertile, well-drained soil
• Rate of growth: fast-growing
• Flowering period: June to September
• Hardiness: frost hardy (may need winter protection)
  
  A colourful and long-flowering addition to the garden, this handsome shrub will soon form a dense thicket of upright stems. These are clothed in golden yellow leaves, which emerge in spring with a bronze-orange flush, and then, throughout the summer, pendent spikes of white, trumpet-shaped flowers appear, tucked in amongst showy (and long-lasting) maroon bracts. As the flowers die off, deep purple-black berries start to form, and these are sought after by birds.
  
  
• Garden care: Apply a generous layer of mulch around the base of the plant in autumn, and protect from cold, drying winds. Trim back lanky stems to buds immediately after flowering, or cut back to a low, permanent framework as the buds beging to swell in spring.