Plants of the month Winter-flowering beauties
Even though it’s cold outside, there are plenty of gorgeous plants in bloom; these beauties are sure to brighten up your home...
“Your garden doesn’t need to be dull in winter,” says Hermien Coetzee of Flowers in the Foyer in Stellenbosch. “There are plenty of plants in bloom now that will look great in a vase in your home. Think of magnolias, camellias, flowering quince, the indigenous ginger bush, a variety of proteas, Serruria, arum lilies in the Cape and bright orange red-hot pokers, to name a few.” And that’s not all. “Before you start pruning, pick the berries, seeds and rose hips that formed on the plants in autumn; they always look wonderful in a winter arrangement.”
Ginger bush (Tetradenia riparia)
You can’t miss the feathery flowers of the ginger bush. This indigenous shrub bears purple, white and sometimes pink flowers at the tips of the bare branches from June to August. If you live in a frost-prone area, plant it in a warmer part of your garden or provide frost protection so the flowers don’t get damaged. (The plant’s natural habitat is in those regions that experience little to no frost, such as KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.)
The ginger bush is fast-growing and will bear flowers in its first year. The leaves are fragrant and the plant is traditionally used for medicinal purposes. Plant it in well-drained, compost-rich soil in full sun. In warmer regions, it will also thrive in semi-shade. In summer it needs more water than in winter, which makes it the ideal plant for summer rainfall regions. >>
Prune your ginger bush early in spring, just after it’s finished flowering.
Camellia (Camellia japonica ‘Elegans’)
This camellia thrives in the shade and is covered with flowers in winter. Its blooms drop off the shrub throughout its long flowering season; leave them where they fall to create a pretty floral carpet beneath the shrub. Camellias are evergreen and frost-resistant.
Flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa)
Flowering quince is a hardy shrub that flowers on bare branches from late winter to spring. Plant it in full sun. The shrub only needs pruning to retain its shape; even if you don’t prune it at all, it will still flower prolifically. Flowering quince is frost-resistant and deciduous.
Tulip magnolia (Magnolia X soulangeana)
Tulip magnolias grow well in full sun and are frost-resistant. They bloom from midwinter to spring on bare branches, making them all the more striking. The leaves appear once the flowering season is over. This is a large shrub that grows up to 5m tall.
Other winter-flowering plants
• Hellebore (Helloborus spp.) • Fairy primrose (Primula malacoides) • Pansy (Viola spp.) • Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) • Cobra lily (Chasmanthe floribunda)* • Garden red-hot poker (Kniphofia praecox)* • Aloe spp.* • Blushing bride (Serruria florida)* • Arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica)* • Bird-of-paradise flower/crane flower (Strelitzia reginae) * * indigenous