For some reason there are no mature pieris in the garden and I have always found this a surprising omission. It is a member of the Ericaceae family, the same family as camellia, azalea and erica, all of which do well with us in our lime free(ish) soil. This large shrub, also known as Lily of the Valley Bush, is quite happy in shade; we are always looking for candidates for the many areas of our garden that see little sun, so another big tick for PJ. Throughout the year it has glossy deep green leaves with burnished new growth in the spring; I think that warrants a double tick. This short fall in our garden inventory has now been rectified: please welcome Pieris japonica “Katsura”. So why weren’t there any in the garden until now? Perhaps it was previous personal choice; perhaps I will find out to my cost.
It looks good. Are these the shrubs that turn blazing orange?