Every shade of luscious green, but no colour!

[WildThong]

Help please. How can I get some vibrant colour into poorish soil in my garden? Is there a miraculous low maintenance, hardy, dappled shade loving, colourful flower or small shrub that will come back year after year?

Rhododendrons and azaleas are very bright and colourful and don't need much attention. It does depend a bit on your soil though - they won't be happy on anything chalky or heavy clay. If you want small, then make sure you read the description, specially for rhododendrons as they tend to be bigger.

Hi, I'll have a look at these, thanks.

There are loads!

Aquilegias, hardy geraniums, japanese anemones, bergenias, even daylilies can work in the brighter places.

The RHS has a great tool for finding things that exactly suit your requirements, here

They won't come back year on year but nasturtiums offer great colour for great value and thrive in poor soil.

shrubs:

sambucca nigra black beauty ?
viburnum plicatum?
daphne odora auramarginata?
mahonia winter sun?

flowers

crocuses: autumn and spring flowering, esp species
colchicums
cyclamen: autumn and winter flowering
hepatica
trilliums
hellebores
gladioli byzantium
foxgloves
acanthus
geranium species/pheum (lots of colours)
asters
shasta daisies
fuschias

Look at Beth Chatto's garden and website as she has poor soil and a 'gravel garden' which needs little water so you will get lots of ideas from there.

Wow, loads more ideas, - thank you all