Battle of the blands
Don’t give up on the dream of beds and borders bursting with colour just because summer is behind us. Plant wisely to forge a vibrant winter’s trail
Has your garden started to look a little bland? As trees and shrubs begin slowing down for winter, you can soon find the garden turns into a winter slumberland – all bare and colourless.
Looking out of the window becomes entirely uninspiring as everything shuts up shop for winter.
It’s tempting to prune it back and then leave it stripped bare until the daffodils poke through in March.
Yet there are a load of great winterflowering plants that can provide lovely eye-catching splashes of colour long before then.
You might worry that anything you put in now will wither away in the really cold spells – but there are plenty of extremely hardy options that can easily withstand the British winter.
Here are ten of my favourite winterflowering plants – all resilient enough to survive the frosts.
They’ll help to cheer your garden up until spring rolls around again. Just don’t forget to water during winter if it’s dry and bright, especially plants and shrubs in sheltered tubs.
Helleborus Niger (Christmas Rose)
Aptly named for its ability to flower even in the depths of winter, the Christmas rose is a pretty white flower that can tolerate the severest of cold. It thrives in a partially-shaded area of the garden, wherever the soil is moist and fertile.
Eranthis Hyemalis (Winter Aconite)
A charming little plant that will bring sunny yellow cupshaped flowers to your garden from late winter onwards. Very easy-going, the winter aconite will be happy in most soil types and aspects, and likes a sunny or partially shaded spot.
Erica Carnea (Heather)
There are lots of great winter-flowering heather varieties that will work well as a low-maintenance ground cover option for your garden.
Most types are evergreen, with clusters of purple-pink flowers from protruding stems. They prefer a bright spot and can grow in acidic or neutral soils, but not in lime.
Cyclamen Coum (Eastern Cyclamen)
The hardy cyclamen is often hailed as a hero of winter colour, with its lovely purple and pink blotched flowers opening throughout the season.
They’re easily grown in containers, or underneath shrubs, as long as there is plenty of drainage for them and some dappled shade.
Jasminum Nudiflorum (Winter Jasmine)
If it’s climbing cover you’re after then winter jasmine is a great choice. With fragrant star-shaped yellow flowers,
Christmas rose is a pretty white flower that can tolerate cold
it will brighten up any wall or trellis. Accepting of any soil type and aspect, winter jasmine simply requires a sheltered spot in which to live, either sunny or partially shaded.
Viburnum x Bodnantense (Arrowwood ‘Dawn’)
This deciduous shrub will shed its leaves for winter but will keep its bubble-gum pink clusters of flowers from autumn all the way through until spring. Try it in a sunny border with good drainage.
Abeliophyllum Distichum (White Forsythia)
Providing subtle winter colour in the form of delicate, snow-white or pale pink flowers, this forsythia will also bring beautiful scents to your garden. It needs a sheltered sunny place in your borders to thrive.
Iris Unguicularis (Algerian Iris)
A charming iris variety which has broad purple flowers with distinctive yellow and white centres.
It’s best placed at the base of a sunny wall, where it will bloom beautifully in all soil types, and whatever the weather, in late winter/early spring.
Galanthus (Snowdrop)
What would a list of winter-flowering plants be without the lovely nodding snowdrop?
With its pretty white droplet flower heads, the snowdrop is a perfect choice for underneath a tree as it grows best in partial shade. Snowdrops look absolutely stunning in clumps over larger lawn spaces.
Lonicera x Purpusii (Honeysuckle ‘Winter Beauty’)
This winter beauty will bring a disarming scent of lemons to your garden throughout the colder season, as well as creamy white flowers.
Tough by nature, it can withstand most soil types and aspects, and prefers sun or dappled shade.
These are just a few of my favourite winter-flowering plants to start you off with some ideas – but there are loads more out there to choose from than you might think.
You can always ask at your local garden centre for some more options. A great way to structure your beds and borders is to try to incorporate plants that flower during different seasons.
This will provide you with all-yearround colour and avoid that sullen bare look that you see in too many gardens over autumn and winter.
The easiest way to find plants that flower during different times of the year is to visit your garden centre once a month and pick up a few perennials that are currently in bloom.
Plant them in your beds and borders and they’ll keep popping up at the same time of year for years to come – ensuring you have a rich variety of colour all year round.