Maintain interest in your garden through the winter months

Winter is when you reap the rewards of your good planning. In climates with mild winters, cooler months can be a time for flower colour and fragrance. Even in cold areas, when growth is dormant, there are plants that bloom and fill the winter air with scent. For winter climate control, select evergreen plants for protection from cold winds but use deciduous plants around the house to let the wonderful winter sunshine stream in.

 

The award for the longest catkin goes to Garrya elliptica. Its slender silver catkins drape branches in mid to late winter and can reach 30 cm long.

 

● Garrya thrives in a cool to mild climate and can be trained against a wall.

● Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’, the corkscrew hazel tree, makes an eye-catching show with its twisted branches and yellow catkins.

 

The flowers of Daphne mezereum ‘Grandiflora’ are bright purple, appear from late winter to early spring and have a wonderful fragrance. Beware the scarlet berries, which are very poisonous.

 

The yellow flowers of winter-flowering plants, such as wattles, will gladden the eye on the dullest winter day. In cold climates, where winter flowers are scarce, consider Jasminum nudiflorum, which has no fragrance but is charming leaning against a low wall or wooden fence. Witch hazel (Hamamelis), has – in addition to its highly individual brightly coloured flowers – a delicate scent. Winter sweet (Chimonanthus praecox), which flowers in midwinter, is also sweet smelling.

 

For the run up to spring, set off the early-blooming yellow forsythia with orange-red japonica or deep rose-red Ribes sanguineum – their flowers go together beautifully and will last through the season to accompany your spring bulbs.

 

Do not cut back wispy ornamental grasses such as pennisetum, miscanthus and carex – they look stunning touched by a morning frost. Leave some herbaceous perennials standing, as their dead stems protect the dormant plants beneath them from frost. The transparent pods of honesty and dried flower heads on hydrangeas and bergamot will also add texture and interest to the winter garden.