Small long flowering shrub for 🐝

Gwenr

Good morning everyone from the rainy part of Kent 😂
I need some advice. We had to dig out a shrub yesterday due to wind damage and it has left a bit of a space for a new shrub to be planted. I'm looking for something fairly compact, long flowering for the bees and it can't grow over 5', saying that everything we plant exceeds it's hight due to the clay. Something 4' and compact would be nice. I've searched but not come up with anything yet, should add it's a south facing garden and gets very hot.

Fairygirl

Long flowering shrubs are few and far between 
Ideally, you'd have other planting for earlier and later to give a succession of flowering.

Potentillas are quite good - loads to choose from and grow virtually anywhere, and in any conditions. Long season although not evergreen.
Some of the brooms  -Genista and Cytisus are good for later spring/early summer.

Dovefromabove

I agree re potentilla … is the first that sprang to my mind too … now having a think … 🤔 

Fairygirl

Hypericum might fit the bill.

Plenty of flowering shrubs, but most only flower for short periods. 

floralies

What about a Rosa Rugosa, they do tend to wander a bit if not kept under control, flower on and off all summer with hips in winter. Would suit your clay soil and south facing garden.

Pete.8

Not shrubs, but one of the best plants I grow for bees is Veronicastrum virginicum 'Fascination'

It does well on my clay soil in full sun. It gets to about 5ft and is buzzing with bees.
Even when not in flower the stems and leaves are architectural.
If you have space, you could plant some agastache in front of them which is another bee-magnet and flowers from midsummer until around now

Dovefromabove

We have one of the new smaller cultivars of  Buddleja 'Miss Ruby' .... it's in non-stop flower all summer ... it's outside our sitting room window and we can hear the bees buzzing from indoors on the sofa.  It's easily kept to the height you want, and doesn't self-seed around the place like the older varietieis.  Not evergreen of course, but nine out of ten ain't bad 

I was also thinking of Escallonia ... they flower for a long time with a gorgeous perfume, and I've never seen one that wasn't covered with bees.  Not flamboyant, but pretty in a restrained sort of way. And there are several varieties to choose from .... not sure if all the ones on this site are available in the UK, but you'll get some sort of idea
https://florgeous.com/escallonia/   and evergreen in most situations. 

KeenOnGreen

Abelia's are not long flowering, but the foliage is very attractive.  One of our favourite Hybrids is Abelia Kaleidoscope.  Can be trimmed size/shape.  It's still very pretty even when not in flower.  We are on clay, and they do fine.

newbie77

Bees love Hebe and shrubby salvias. 

Gwenr

So many suggestions to choose from. We have a Hebe but the bees didn't show much interest in it this year, I think they were spoilt for choice. Our Escallonia has not done very well in our garden, I don't understand why, it's three years old and had very few flowers, I'm not sure where I'm going wrong there, could I move it now to a new location?

Fairygirl

They need free draining soil. Escallonia, I mean.