Colour and scent of winter blooms
Even when the temperature falls, plants are very much alive, and some will bring colour and fragrance to the slumbering garden
THERE IS A crisp clarity to the January morning; a sharpness in the air that heightens the senses. While at first the garden appears to be silent and at rest, the faintest rustle can be detected from the undergrowth as a bird or small animal searches for food. Venturing further in, there is the unexpected trace of an almost spicy fragrance, more redolent of spring or summer than the midst of winter. The source is a witch hazel; naked of leaves, its thin stems adorned instead with clusters of curious golden, spidery blooms. Reminiscent of tiny fireworks, they add an element of warmth and sunshine. Flowers such as this serve as a reminder that while the winter garden appears to be slumbering, the reality is very different. However quiet it looks on the surface, the garden is full of bustling activity, with mammals, birds and insects living out their lives in shelter, preparing for the return of a busy spring and summer. Despite their appearance, the plants are active too. They are forming their embryonic leaves, shoots and flowers ready to burst into show again. Below ground, their roots are still working: exploring, gathering resources, making partnerships with fungi and starting to unpack their food reserves. Understanding how life in the garden continues, even through the depths of winter, is important in helping it to flourish. Adding small to medium-sized winter flowering plants will not only bring more colour and interest, but they will also have a positive effect on the environment.
Late flowering benefits
It may at first seem strange for plants to flower in the winter, especially considering that pollinators are at their most abundant in the summer. But, during the warmer weather, there is huge competition to attract the attention of bees and
other pollinating insects, especially when vast numbers of plants, such as oilseed rape, are in flower across the countryside. In order to stand out, they have had to evolve bigger and more splendid flowers, with more and more energy expended on the goal of grabbing attention. As the seasons change, so do the most abundant pollinators, along with the flowers that attract them the most successfully. This results in a succession of flower colour and species dominating the landscape as the year progresses. In winter, there are fewer active pollinators, but rarely are there none at all, except perhaps in the very worst weather. Honey bees sometimes leave the hive on mild winter days if only to eliminate waste, and they will not turn down a meal if they find one. Similarly, buff-tailed bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, frequently fly on less cold days and, even more than honey bees, are dependent on the winter flowering plants they find. Such plants can expect to have the undivided attention of these insects and also play an important role in keeping the pollinators fed. The flowers of these plants need to be able to withstand the cold. Large, flamboyant petals will be destroyed by frost, so winter flowers are more typically small, hard and waxy, nestled in the shelter of leaves and stems. They also frequently come in succession, so that new blooms replace those that are lost, providing a long flowering season and increasing the chances of pollination. As they rely less on show and flower colour to attract pollinators, many winter flowering plants produce strong scent that travels widely to reach the active insects.
Scented shrubs
Among the most powerfully fragranced of the winter plants are deciduous shrubs, which produce flowers with an unusually strong scent. The spidery witch hazel belongs to the genus Hamamelis and originates from Asia and the Americas. Growing to approximately 6ft (2m) tall, its long, thin, scented flowers, in shades from yellow through to orange and towards red, may look fragile, but the tough petals can withstand frost. The yellow, purple-streaked flowers of wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox, appear along the stems from November to March and are more trumpet shaped and waxy than those of witch hazel. Despite the common name, it has a scent which is more spicy than sweet. Reaching a similar height to witch hazel, wintersweet is potentially a leggy shrub, but can be pruned thoroughly to keep a good form. It should be planted in a sheltered spot in a frequently used area in order to gain the most benefit from its delicious fragrance. Many viburnums are sweet scented, but one variety that is both outstanding and winter flowering is Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’. Unlike many in the family, it is a deciduous shrub. Pompoms of bright pink flowers can burst from the stems any time from October to March, depending on how cold the weather is. Pruning this plant back hard after flowering will keep it compact, as it can grow up to 10ft (3m) tall, which is too large for many positions. When the
leaves fall, and the flowers emerge, it is one of the most striking plants for the winter garden. Unlike its summer flowering relatives, the winter honeysuckle does not climb, but instead forms a tangled shrub. Over a succession of weeks, small, waxy, ivory-white flowers appear. So highly scented are these flowers that just one shrub can flood an entire garden with a sweet fragrance. The winter varieties commonly found are Lonicera fragrantissima and the hybrid L. x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’. Hardy and reliable, they will grow in most soils and aspects. For filling a neglected corner of the garden or for underplanting larger shrubs, daphne is particularly useful. Daphne bholua produces a rounded, medium-sized evergreen shrub, with intense pink scented flowers. ‘Jacqueline Postill’ is the most sought-after variety, flowering in late winter.
Splash of sunshine
A number of plants add drops of sunny colour to illuminate winter days. With its scent reminiscent of lily of the valley, mahonia provides vivid yellow flowers and handsome evergreen leaves. Mahonia x media has panicles of bright yellow flowers atop striking whirls of glossy, spiny evergreen
“How beautiful thy frosty morn, When brilliants gem each feathery thorn!”
Bernard Barton, ‘Stanzas on the Approach of Winter’
leaves on long stems, making a very sculptural specimen plant. Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ is an interesting new variety, with softer leaves and a more elegant appearance than many in the family, though still graced with golden winter flowers. The paperbush, Edgeworthia chrysantha, a deciduous shrub from Asia, has fragrant yellow flowers appearing in late winter through to early spring. The bark is used for making a traditional paper in Japan, hence the common name. A small shrub of the pea family, Coronilla glauca has slightly fleshy, grey-green leaves and clusters of yellow flowers, and typically of the family, a lovely scent. In a sheltered position and in mild weather, it can flower through the year end until spring, only resting slightly before beginning again.
Colourful displays
Not all winter flowers are highly scented, but there are plenty of shrubs worth growing for their display of flowers alone and for bringing more colour. The silk tassel bush, Garrya elliptica, produces long grey catkins from handsome dark green foliage and makes an attractive choice for cutting to add to winter flower displays. Viburnum tinus is a neat, glossy evergreen, with a long flowering season. ‘Eve Price’ is the most commonly found variety; pink in bud and opening white. Easy and reliable, it cheers up the garden and makes good cutting material. Playing a key role in supporting pollinators are heathers, which are great nectar producers. Erica carnea and E. x darleyensis produce carpets of winter flowers from white-pink to red and even mauve, and can also be used as pot plants or in winter window box displays. ‘Springwood White’ and ‘Springwood Pink’ are two varieties with a greater tolerance of lime in the soil than other heathers. It is best to plant several close together to form dense ground cover. Some varieties have coloured foliage, such as ‘Barry Sellers’, which is golden and turns orange in cold weather. While many hellebores flower from February onwards, one particularly popular species that begins to bloom earlier is the Christmas rose, Helleborus niger. While not native to Britain, it is grown widely, and the best forms have larger, more upward facing flowers. Depending on the variety, it comes in shades from dusky pink to a vivid pure white, as in ‘Potter’s Wheel’, which is a particularly long established and sought-after form.
Helleborus niger hybrids are also appearing, greatly extending the range of desirable winter flowering varieties. Among these is ‘Winter Moonbeam’, in which the foliage is green with silvery grey lacing, and the outward facing flowers are white, fading through pink to a dusky red.
Winter climbers
Climbers are also sources of delight in wintertime. Clematis cirrhosa is a tangled evergreen scrambling climber with ferny leaves, among which bell-shaped winter flowers appear in shades of pale cream to a greenish white. ‘Wisley Cream’ is one of the more common varieties; ‘Freckles’ has maroon spots on its petals, while ’Jingle Bells’ is a cleaner white. These should all be planted in a spot that is passed by often, otherwise the flowers may be missed altogether, hidden as they are amongst the leafy tangle. The evergreen Clematis urophylla ‘Winter Beauty’ is a more recent introduction. It has the advantage of larger, bright white buds and flowers from December to March. Unlike C. cirrhosa, it is also scented. Winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, is more of a scrambler than a climber and lacks the full, rather exotic scent of the more tender white-flowered jasmines usually grown as indoor plants. Nevertheless, the yellow winter jasmine does carry some fragrance and dots its whippy green stems with cheerful star-like flowers over a long season. Offering scent or colour, and even both, winter flowering plants are a welcome addition to the garden during the coldest of seasons. Whether it be the warming spiciness of their scent or the radiant colour of their unyielding petals, they are a vital support for the garden and a reminder that it can be enjoyed whatever the time of year. Dr Tony Kendle is Creative Consultant at The Eden Project in Cornwall.