Hardy marmalade bush adds flamboyance to your flora

Sometimes you choose a plant for its subtle foliage or its pastel flowers but there are times when one wants to go bold with a capital B.

Add to the colors the fact the flowers have starburst lines encircling the center, making them look like miniature suns, and this plant has that wow factor in spades.

Streptosolen is loud, boisterous and exuberant, and because mature plants will reach a size of 5 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide, it's not a shrub that you tuck into a corner of your garden.

The cascading branches give a loose bowl form to the shrub, encouraging a "floor-to-ceiling" blooming effect.

Streptosolen belongs to the short list of shrubs where just one specimen is often enough to create the effect you're after.

Once established, it is drought tolerant, disease and bug resistant and thrives in a variety of soils.