Shrubs are mainly used to provide a permanent woody background in your garden, with a range of types to provide year round colour. Flowering shrubs have become great favourites that you can plant at any time of the year.

At Thompsons we grow our own extensive collection of shrubs which includes close to 400 varieties.

Please use the letters below to browse our A-Z range of shrubs.

S

Sambucus Black Beauty

Attractive deciduous shrub with deep purple to almost black foliage. A good contrast plant for the garden. Flower white flushed pink. Prune hard in March. Height: 2m Spread: 2m

Sambucus nigra Black Lace

Deeply cut lacy leaves. Dark purple colour. Attractive pink flowers in May followed by black, edible berries in late summer. Height: 1.8-2m Spread: 1.8m. Plant in sun or part shade.

Sambucus rac. Sutherland Gold

A bushy shrub with finely cut leaves, bronze when young, turning golden yellow. Yellow flowers in spring, followed by glossy red fruit. Resistant to scorching in bright sunlight. Height: 2m Spread: 2m

Santolina pin. Edward Bowles

A rounded, bushy shrub with aromatic, grey-green leaves. Creamy white flower heads in mid-summer. Height: 75cm Spread: 1m Growth Rate/Habit: Normal/Rounded Aspect: Full Sun

Sarcococca hookeriana

A dwarf suckering shrub with glossy dark green leaves. Clusters of white fragrant flowers in winter followed by dark blue-black fruit. Height: 60cm Spread: 1m.

Senecio Sunshine

Spreading bush, forming a dense broad mound. Foliage silvery/grey when young becoming dark green. Bright yellow daisy-like flowers. Height: 1m Spread: 1.2m. Plant in full sun and most soil types.

Skimmia japonica foremanii

A female evergreen shrub with shiny dark green leaves. Fragrant white flowers open from red buds in spring followed by large bunches or brilliant red fruit. Height: 1.5m Spread: 1.5m

Skimmia japonica Nymans

A female evergreen shrub with shiny, narrow dark green leaves. Fragrant white flowers open from red buds in spring followed by red fruit. An extremely free fruiting form. Height: 80cm Spread: 1m

Skimmia japonica Rubella

A male evergreen shrub with shiny dark green leaves, margined red. Fragrant white flowers open from dark red buds in spring followed by red fruit. Height: 1m Spread: 1m

Skimmia japonica reevesiana

White flowers in May followed by crimson red fruits which last through the winter. A dwarf shrub forming a low compact mound. Hermaphrodite, will produce berries on its own. Height: 60cm

Sophora microphylla 'Sun King'

Spreading, evergreen small tree or shrub with pinnate leaves. Hardy form of bushy habit with large bright yellow flowers profusely borne over a long period. Height: 8m Spread: 8m

Sorbaria sorbifolia Sem

Attractively cut feathered foliage. Bronze coloured young leaves, change to dark green in summer. White flowers mid-late summer. Moist, well-drained soil, sun/partial shade. Height: 1m

Spiraea Arguta

A dense rounded shrub with bright green leaves. Flowers pure white, produced in small clusters all along the branches. Height: 1.6m Spread: 1.2m Growth Rate/Habit: Normal/Arching

Spiraea jap. Anthony Waterer

A dense shrub with bright green leaves, sometimes variegated pink and cream. Clusters of dark pink flowers from mid to late summer. Height: 1.5m Spread: 1.5m. Plant in full sun.

Spiraea japonica Candle Light

A dwarf compact shrub with bright yellow young leaves, turning to a deeper yellow in summer. Clusters of pink flowers from mid to late summer. Height: 40cm Spread: 50cm. Full sun.

Spiraea japonica Goldflame

A dense shrub with bronze-red young leaves, turning bright yellow then mid- green. Clusters of dark pink flowers from mid to late summer. Height: 75cm Spread: 75cm. Full sun.

Spiraea japonica Shirobana

A dense shrub with dark green leaves. Clusters of both dark pink and white flowers on the same plant from mid to late summer. Height: 60cm Spread: 60cm Growth Rate/Habit: Normal/Bushy Aspect: Full sun

Spiraea nipponica Snowmound

An arching shrub with rounded dark green leaves. Clusters of white flowers cover the plant in mid-summer. Height: 1.8m Spread: 1.8m Vigorous growing, upright spreading.

Spiraea x vanhouttei Pink Ice

A compact bushy shrub with arching stems of dark green leaves with white flecks and tinged pink. Clusters of white flowers in early summer. Height: 2m Spread: 1.5m.

Spiraea x cinerea Grefsheim

A dense shrub with soft sea-green leaves. White flowers on short stalks from late spring to early summer. Height: 75cm Spread: 75cm Growth Rate/Habit: Normal/Rounded Aspect: Full Sun

Syringa microphylla Superba

A bushy shrub with glossy dark green leaves. Clusters of fragrant rose-pink flowers in late spring and early summer. Height: 1.5m Spread: 1.5m Growth Rate/Habit: Normal/Upright spreading.

Syringa vulgaris Belle de Nancy

A suckering large shrub or small tree with heart shaped green leaves. Fragrant lilac pink flowers during early spring. Height: 2.5m Spread: 1.6m Growth Rate/Habit: Vigorous/upright. Full sun.

Syringa vulgaris Charles Joly

A spreading shrub with clusters of fragrant, double, dark purple flowers in late spring and early summer. Height: 2.5m Spread: 1.6m Growth Rate/Habit: Normal/Rounded to broadly spreading.

Syringa vulgaris Sensation

Spreading shrub or small tree. Deciduous. Large panicles of purplish-red florets edged white. Very fragrant conical flowers in late Spring. Height: 7m Spread: 7mGrowth Rate/Habit: / Aspect: Full sun.