IN THIS guidebook

Winter can often allow your garden feeling miss and bare , with many perennial plant get into a period of dormancy during the coldest months .

However , there are many plants that can still inject some colorful interest into your garden displays – even during these darker workweek of the year .

red berries from a rowan tree covered in snow

“ Each month has its own character reference and set of headliner plant , but I love that through the depths of wintertime , you’re able to smack the judicious scent of wintertime coast banksia , Sarcococca orChimonanthus praecox , ” shares the proprietor of the garden at 13 Broom Acres , Sunil Patel .

“ This make wintertime one of my pet times in the gardening calendar . ”

Garden Writer Val Bourne also favours the winter for her horticulture needs :

creamy-pink flowering helleborus niger plant with long white stamens growing outside

“ I actually love winter gardening , which sound strange . I get so much done during that time of class – it is definitely my favored time of year .

“ When everything is stripped back to silhouettes and there are tiny flowers growing from the ground – winter is just so beautiful . ”

Below , I ’ve pile up a list of ten of my favored plants for wintertime involvement , from evergreen varieties with arresting foliation to perennial that produce flowers in a kitchen range of hues throughout the cold of months .

winter honeysuckle shrub with cream flowers and green foliage growing outside with a blue sky in the background

1) Christmas Rose

genus Helleborus niger , more ordinarily touch to as theChristmas Rose , bring on beautiful 5 - petalled flowers over the wintertime months in a creamy - blanched chromaticity .

A member of the buttercup home , its flowers also deliver a yellowy - green center and are often flecked with pallid - pink hint .

As the Christmas Rose is a relatively small flora , reaching up to 50 atomic number 96 in height and spread , this plant life will look great in a container or at the front of a blossom bottom .

winterberry shrub with red round berries and oval shaped leaves growing outdoors

Make trusted that wherever you opt to grade your Christmas Rose is sheltered from any strong winds , as this is a plant that can not cope with being exposed .

2) Winter Honeysuckle

Another plant that bring about cream - coloured flowers , the winter Australian honeysuckle is a deciduous bush that produces beautiful blooms on its bare branches over the winter time of year .

Its tiny 2 - lipped flowers are often tinged in pink and have a beautifully fragrant aroma that is not too dissimilar to that of freshly - squeezed lemons .

This was one of the works mentioned by Garden Designer Ian McBain when I spoke to him earlier this twelvemonth – particularly , he noted its perfume at a sentence of twelvemonth when not much else is offer time value :

close-up of the red berries from a common holly plant with spiky green leaves growing outdoors

Growing up to 2.5 G improbable , this bush would take care dandy at the back of a border or as part of a more naturalwildlife - well-disposed display .

3) Winterberry

possum haw is a bush that is prized for itsround ruby-red berries that are bring out in autumnand last long into the winter months .

Its obtuse dark leafage is great for providing shelter to wildlife during the follow nesting season , whilst the berry are often eaten by birds or other low mammals .

Not only is this plant beneficial for the wildlife in your garden , but its striking coming into court and grownup stature , grow up to 2.5 meter in height , can add a bright burst of colour to your garden during the duller months .

witch hazel shrub with unique yellow flowers that have lots of frilly long petals growing outdoors with some brown leaves still left on the branches

Preferringacidic soil , this flora care to grow in a damp growing medium , but ensure the grunge never becomes waterlogged as this can damage the plant ’s wellness .

4) Common Holly

gain up to a giant 15 m in height , the vulgar holly might just slip the show for the most dramatic plant on this list .

With dark gullible foliage and bright flushed berries , this eye - enchant evergreen produces classifiable spiky leaves that often have a glossy finish .

Holly is a plant I often think of when considering plants for wintertime interestingness , as it is easy to grow , require piddling care and can function well as ahedgingplant at the back of a garden border .

jasminum nudiflorum shrub with star-shaped yellow flowers and red flower buds growing from its branches

Some of my favourite varieties let in ‘ Silver Queen ’ , prize for its silver variegation on the border of the green leaf , and ‘ Madame Briot ’ , which produces green and yellow leaves from purplish stems .

5) Witch Hazel

Producing tassel - like blooms that vary in shades from red to yellow , witch hazel is bound to bring some bright interest to your garden over winter .

With stunning scented flowers , witch hazel would work really well planted next to paths or doorways so you could enjoy their redolent qualities throughout the wintertime calendar month .

democratic sort let in Chinese beldame hazel and Virginian crone hazel , which both produce yellow flower during the colder months of the twelvemonth .

the thin red branches from a common dogwood shrub growing outside during the winter months

“ I would also pick out these plants for their charming autumn coloration on beautifully shaped , softly twisted leaves too , ” adds Peter .

6) Winter Jasmine

Winter jasmine is another deciduous shrub that add colourful floriferous interest during the cold dark months .

In Chinese , this plant ’s name , ‘ Yingchun ’ , can be translate as ‘ the flower that receive spring ’ , and its star - influence , yellow petals that blossom powerful through the wintertime into the outflow demonstrate why.1User - submitted name Yingchun . ( n.d . ) . Behind the Name . call back March 27 , 2023 , fromhttps://www.behindthename.com/name/yingchun/submitted

This beautiful mounter can grow well against a trellis or a paries at the back of a garden border , or be pot and added to container displays or hanging baskets for cascading winter display .

wintersweet plant with yellow and red layered flowers covering its branches growing outside with a blue sky behind it

7) Common Dogwood

If you ’re looking for a flora that is great for wildlife but also looks great in the garden over the colder months , then this bush is the one to beat .

It is the fore ofthe common dogwood plantthat provide pastime for your winter garden displays , with the bare brilliant red subdivision create a stunning explosion of wintertime colour .

dogwood tree also produceswhite flowersand blackened - coloured berries during the year , but they are no contest for the beautiful red stems that look best at the back of a border or as a bear - alone show in its own container or bed .

the pale-pink blossoms from a prunus × subhirtella tree growing outside with a blue sky in the background

“ If I had to blame one , I would chooseCornus sanguinea‘Midwinter Fire ’ as a cultivar with flare orange and ruby tones , ” says Peter .

8) Wintersweet

Perhaps my favourite bush on this list , wintersweet produces small scented flower with jaundiced and reddened layered tepal that grow in cluster from long bare branch over the winter months .

This is another bush that can be trained against a wall , but it ’s important to remember that it want full sun to thrive , so be mindful if plant in an area of your garden that does n’t get much light throughout the day .

Due to its distinct but beautiful flowers , I ’d recommend planting wintersweet with other more elusive multifariousness so it does not get fall behind amongst the bunch , or in its own container .

pink flowering euonymus europaeus shrub with orange seeds at the centre growing from bare branches outside during the winter

You should definitely embed these aromatic flowers near a doorway so you may revel their scent throughout wintertime and into spring .

9) Winter Cherry

The winter cherry Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree produces modest pale - pink heyday towards the destruction of the wintertime months and can be used as a centerpiece for your winter garden displays .

grow up to 8 1000 in height with a standardised spread , this floriferous Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree can look brilliant in hayfield - style gardens thanks to its beautiful blossoms .

If you do n’t have the elbow room for a full - sized diverseness , gnome cultivars or grafted flora can be grown in pots that are uncommitted but are harder to rule in the UK .

Perhaps the most pop variety of this cultivar , Prunusxsubhirtella‘Atumnalis ’ can be grafted onto dwarf tooth root stocks to get to half the height and spread of the common winter cherry tree diagram but still acquire those beautiful pallid - pink flush throughout the wintertime months .

10) Spindle

Last but certainly not least , spindleis a great addition to any winter display that needs a burst of colouration .

What makes this deciduous shrub abide out from the sleep is the orange berries that are produced from the small pink efflorescence that grow from the marginal subdivision in the colder months of the twelvemonth .

Not only do they bring a unique colour to your wintertime garden , but they are highly versatile and can be grown as hedges , at the back of garden bed , or trained along a treillage or wall .

“ I would select a sheltered position for these spike to forestall berry neglect too quickly in the autumn , ” shares Peter .

My pet variety , ‘ Red Cascade ’ , produces brilliant scarlet leaves over the winter months alongside their orangish berry .

References