Brighten up your days
A select few flowering plants assembled together can paint a colourful scene in January, says LOUISE MIDGLEY
WHILE many gardens have the odd plant in flower during the winter months, it’s rare to see a whole border dedi98cated to winter flowering specimens, yet it is perfectly feasible. Just visualise a collection of perennials, shrubs and bulbs planted in close proximity and radiating masses of colour, what a picture that would make on a dreary day.
And although you may not be spending much time in your garden, being able to appreciate its beauty each time you gaze out of the window is always going to raise your spirits, whatever the weather.
Plants grouped together make the biggest impact, either in a border if you have some spare space, or in a selection of frost-proof containers.
The latter, may be the best option if your garden is small because some winter flowering plants are less interesting during the summer months and once they have finished flowering can be moved out of the limelight until they are ready for a repeat performance, or freshened up with colourful summer bedding.
At the heart of the display, plant something bright and eye-catching, such as an early flowering rhododendron or camellia and under-plant with bright and cheery winter-flowering heathers. Rhododendron mucronulatum makes a great centrepiece as it carries clusters of pink-purple funnel-shaped flowers for several weeks in winter.
All these plants need acidic soil to thrive, so plant them in ericaceous compost which is lime free.
Hellebores start flowering in earnest in January. These beautiful perennials are such good value for money and will continue to look good until at least May, even though the colour will have drained from their flowers.
They will also self-seed around the garden, hybridising freely so you never know what new beauty may appear at some point in the future.
Another great winter perennial is the intrepid little Algerian Iris, I.unguicularis which produces elegant lavender blue flowers, randomly from November to March. Divide mature clumps in autumn to increase stock and encourage more efficient flowering.
Snowdrops, winter aconites and Cyclamen coum all flower at the start of the year and signal spring is not so far away. They can be grown in pots if kept reasonably moist in summer but are best planted in the ground where they will increase in number if conditions are favourable.
Now is the ideal time to get inspiration for your own collection of winter flowering plants and the best place to do this is often your local garden centre, where displays of top-performing plants are generally clustered together for greatest effect.