The Portuguese isle has been dubbed The Pearl of the Atlantic, a nod to the ocean that surrounds its namesake archipelago.

Adaptable evergreen: Prunus lusitanica flowers in June and can be clipped into formal geometric shapes to provide winter structure Credit: Photo: Gap Photos; Mark Bolton A mixture of red and deep ...

There is laurel and then there is laurel; in this case, the ferociously hardy Portuguese form (Prunus lusitanica) which was once immensely popular, but now, like so many of those dark evergreens ...