Quick Guide: summer, half hardy, full sun, height: 1.2m/4ft, width: 1.8m/6ft

The best shrubby senecio for most gardens is Senecio x `Sunshine' (above), sometimes inaccurately listed as S. greyi or S. laxifolius. Well-suited to coastal gardens, this evergreen has leaves of a beautiful silvery-grey. Though they turn green as the season progresses, the undersides remain silver. Clusters of daisy-like yellow flowers appear in early summer. It is not fully hardy in very severe winters.

GROWING Plant between autumn and spring in free-draining soil. Remove faded flowerheads as soon as you notice them. The minimum amount of pruning is required - simply remove dead or damaged wood in spring.

PROPAGATION Take 7.5cm/3in semi-ripe cuttings of side shoots in late summer. Place in a peat/sand mixture in a cold frame. Transfer the rooted cuttings to a nursery bed in spring or pot up individually and set outdoors. Plant out the following autumn.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS Aphids.