-
0 item(s) in your barrow at £0.00 Wheelbarrow
You have no items in your shopping cart.
- Pre-Order Basket (0)
JOHN'S GARDEN, 'ONE OF THE FINEST GARDENS IN THE UK', IS OPEN EVERY SATURDAY more
- Home
- Gardeners’ Corner
- Nursery Notes
- Cultural Advice
- Winter-flowering plants
Winter-flowering plants
The Winter Garden should be a place of subtle beauty and there are an amazing number winter-flowering plants that will transform any garden, especially when back lit by pale winter sunlight or dusted with a magical sprinkling of frost.
Helleborus x hybridus Ashwood Garden Hybrids should be top of everyone’s list of winter flowering plants. The beauty of their flowers is unsurpassed and will give you stunning colour from mid-winter to late spring. They are sure to delight whether you choose singles, doubles or anemone-form. Don’t forget the hellebore species in your planting scheme: their subtle natural beauty is captivating, while some have fine architectural foliage.
Cyclamen coum are perfect companions for hellebores and snowdrops. They usually flower from December to late March, producing a profusion of exquisite blooms in shades of white, shell-pink, rose or magenta. Their attractive foliage may be glossy dark green or beautifully patterned with silver. Be generous with cyclamen, planting in groups of five or more to create a carpet effect.
Snowdrops are an essential part of the winter garden, one of the earliest flowers to bloom in late winter and giving cheer on even the darkest days. They can be grown in the shade of deciduous shrubs and trees, naturalised in grass or grown in pots and displayed where their beauty can be seen at close quarters. Iris, winter aconites, scilla, crocus and some narcissi will also appear early in the season and mix happily with snowdrops.
Winter-flowering heathers can play a valuable role and should not be overlooked especially as companions for hellebores, cyclamen and winter bulbs. Many varieties have beautiful foliage colour which intensifies in cold conditions while cultivars of Erica x darleyensis and Erica carnea will produce a profusion of flowers as early as November. These last well into spring and on sunny days will come alive with the buzzing of bees.
One of the delights of the winter garden, Hamamelis (Witch Hazels) will produce a mass of unusual spidery blooms in shades of yellow, orange or red and with a fragrance to die for. Their spreading irregular habit gives them good architectural presence and they are also superb in autumn when their foliage becomes tinted with fiery hues.
Camellias are the undisputed drama queens of the season, prized for the exquisite beauty of their blooms. A profusion of flowers in shades of pink, red and white are produced as early as November and frequently carry on until April. Their bold evergreen foliage is indispensable for giving form and structure.
Other winter-flowering favourites include mahonias, skimmias, sarcococca, Winter Jasmine, Cornus mas, Viburnum tinus and ornamental quinces. For more sheltered gardens or warm walls Chimonanthus praecox, Clematis cirrhosa var balearica, Abeliophyllum distichum, Coronilla valentina, Daphne bholua and Daphne odora will produce their flowers early in all but the coldest winters.
Scent is the most evocative of all the senses and one of the great pleasures of a winter garden as many of the winter-flowering shrubs rely on a powerful scent that travels far to attract the few pollinating insects that are around.Plant a selection of the smaller shrubs such as sarcococca, skimmia, Daphne odora or bholua close to the house and their fragrance will stop you in your tracks. Use larger shrubs such as Witch Hazels, Viburnum bodnantense and its cultivars, Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), Abeliophyllum distichum, Eleagnus x ebbingei or Azara microphylla in your mixed borders and all will delight with their fragrance.
Fill pots and urns with small winter flowering plants, dwarf evergreen shrubs, lacy ferns and billowing grasses, interspersed with early flowering bulbs. Hellebores, skimmia and winter heathers are perfect subjects. Work in a carpet of fresh green moss, bark and pine cones then wire in sprigs of bracken and tied bunches of coloured dogwood stems.
Why not line a basket with hessian or moss and plant it with snowdrops, scilla, wild primroses, cyclamen and a few trailing sprigs of green ivy to soften the edges: tuck in moss, bark chippings, and larch cones to evoke a woodland floor. Place it close to an entrance or window and enjoy!
Category
- A Potted History of Ashwood Nurseries (2)
- Camellias (1)
- Cultural Advice (17)
- Cyclamen (2)
- Hellebores (7)
- Hepaticas (4)
- Hydrangeas (1)
- John Massey VMH (1)
- Lewisias (2)
- Primula auricula (2)
- Salvias (1)
- The Winter Garden (1)
In Our Shop
Don't miss out - Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest news and offers straight to your email
- © Copyright 2024 Ashwood Nurseries
- Kaweb Design