shrub 5 140829

Ribes sanguineum. I guess. It has beautiful flowers in May. It blooms one month.

thanks Kat. I didn't notice any flowers on it this year, but hten, there were large shrubs all around it then, blocking its light and my view. Now it's got more room and more light, so fingers crossed for next year.

I thought it was a ribes. Ours was quiet for a few years. Now it tries to be a monster and needs knocking back very hard to keep control. Lovely when it has a good moist run to get ready for flowering.

Ribes is a typical shrub for sunny, dry positions. I wrote many times here, that I have very sunny garden without water source, so I have been experimenting a lot and studied what plants and trees "do not worry" if they do not have rain for a week or three. Ribes was my choice among others, as it is written, that it blooms heavily ON THE SUN. I would also prune it in the autumn to 1/2 of the current longevity of its branches.

thanks @Dorjac - I think the RHS said this shrub doesn't get much taller than mine is now - of course, it can spread and "thicken". I don't know how well it's been looked after re pruning, feeding and so on, so I'll have to proceed cautiously - so far I've not touched it, though I think the gardener cut it back a bit a few months ago,

thanks @Kat - it's against the fence on the north side of the garden, so gets sun most of the day - or the front bit of it does, anyway.

Autumn pruning makes sense: once it's taken in as much energy as possible, trim back to reduce the area exposed to winter wind and cold. I'll have to check the many links I took one you'd told me the plant name - if the leaves drop, that's a good hint that the plant's closing down for the season!