Great news, gardeners – winter is almost here!

THEmiddle of August, when the dahlias are in full bloom and roses are putting out a second flush of flowers, is a funny time to be thinking of winter.

However, if you’ve planned your garden for all-round seasonal interest, then many of the plants doing their stuff now will still be performing when there’s frost on the ground.

Some of the best winter gardens have been created by planting designer Colin McBeath of Quercus Landart.

His work in private gardens and public spaces doesn’t only look good when the sun is shining, but through the gloomier months as well.

Colin achieves this effect by carefully choosing his plants. He seeks out those strong enough to keep standing during bad weather and which have something to offer aside from colour and scent.

Good seedheads, architectural shapes and grasses that fade to silver and provide beautiful movement are all in his palette.

“Phlomis russeliana is one of the most useful plants,” says Colin.

“It holds its flowers in whorls at intervals up the length of its stem and grow it among grasses, so the flowers appear to be floating above them.”

Those flowers are yellow during summer but they don’t last long.

“Then towards the end of the year they take on a structural quality which is when they are at their best,” he adds.

The grass he grows with them most often is Calamagrotis ‘Karl Foerster’ which he says is one of the best at standing vertically during the winter and into this mix he’ll add Achillea filipendulina ‘Gold Plate’.

“There are lots of lovely achilleas but some die out after a couple of years. Not Karl Foerster’, it is an older variety but it has staying-power. It grows to about 1m in height and its flat heads add a useful horizontal element.”

Colin has used this in a garden perched on a cliff top overlooking the sea and, though high winds have reduced the height of the plants, they have grown bushier and stronger as a result.

Slightly more tender is Agastache ‘Black Adder’, worth growing for its tall, purple flower spikes which are held like candles and looks really good among grasses in winter.

The magenta heads of Stachys hummelo fade to cinnamon as the year comes to a close and Sedum matrona, which has pink flowerheads and smokey purple foliage, produces russet brown seedheads that persist.

Also on his list is Digitalis ferruginea, a perennial foxglove with tall flower spikes the colour of rusty iron.

“Once the flowers have fallen the seed head remains standing and it is brilliant for adding vertical accents,” Colin says.

So don’t think the show’s over when the summer ends. Take a few tips from Colin and your garden could be transformed into something wonderful during the winter months.