Winter Gardening Plants and Bulbs

In my last blog I described some shrubs that will add winter colour to a garden, as well as height and structure. The shrubs mentioned could be described as the ‘upper storey’ in most average-sized gardens – plants growing to between 2m and 4m in height. However, these may be too tall or too bushy for smaller gardens. One alternative, more suited to larger gardens, is to leave the previous years growth of perennials and grasses untouched right through winter. And while it is true that meandering through drifts of dried stems gently swaying in the winter sunshine does have a certain magical charm, for most of us with smaller gardens, it is not possible to achieve this effect.

Dried grasses and last year’s herbaceous perennials look effective when seen in large prairie-like drifts. This effect does not work so well in smaller gardens.

However, there are many common plants that have evolved to be at their best during winter. Putting just a few of these together can provide gardens with winter colour and attractive foliage right through into spring, nicely overlapping with the appearance of the perennials. It is simply a matter of selecting the right plants. One plant that may be less familiar to many gardeners is the winter-flowering Iris unguicularis. This is an evergreen plant, so provides year-round ground cover too. During winter it starts producing exquisite blue flowers and will continue flowering from November through to March – so well-worth considering, just for the unusual splash of blue in the Christmas border!

Iris unguicularis flowering at the National Trust property, Greys Court, Oxfordshire - @greyscourt @ntgreyscourt

Probably the most familiar winter-flowering bulb of all is the snowdrop. There are so many to choose from. Galanthus elwesii is one commonly available, producing reliable plants with flowers easily seen suspended on tall stems above the leaves. Snowdrops will spread slowly on their own by off-setting and also by spreading seeds if they are allowed to develop the seedheads in the summer (so don’t cut them back when they turn brown if collecting seeds is your aim). However, seeds may take up to seven years to become flowering plants, so best to buy Snowdrops as bulbs which will flower the year after planting, or in pots as mature plants ready for transplanting into your garden. Let them flower first and then transplant while still green. Clumps can be lifted and divided after flowering.

Galanthus elwesii ‘Mrs McNamara’. There are many National Trust gardens and private gardens where huge varieties of snowdrops can be seen. It is easy to become a ‘Galanthophile’! #NationalTrustSnowdropDay #showdropseason

Overlapping with snowdrops and often seen growing together, is Eranthis hyemalis – otherwise know as a ‘Winter Aconite’. Like snowdrops, if allowed, they will spread to create pretty drifts of flowers adding areas of bright yellow to the winter flowerbed - like permanent patches of sunshine! They are small plants, growing to about 15cm and look well as underplanting beneath more open shrubs such as roses or spring flowering Forsythia.

Eranthis growing amongst snowdrops. Last year’s leaves of a Hellebore can be seen in the background. The area is an unused corner of a garden planted with 3 Betula jacquemontii (out of the photo) creating a ‘natural’ woodland setting with good dappled light.

Hellebores are familiar plants. These days they offer a wide variety of winter flower colours, from black to white and all colours in between! There is something for everyone. They are generally hardy and establish easily. Depending on the variety, they may grow from 20cm up to 60cm. The evergreen ‘Stinking Hellebore’ may even grow to 1m in height (as tall as many perennials), its acid yellow flowers providing a strong focal point in any winter flowerbed. Hellebores will flower through winter into early spring. In my own experience, they self-seed very easily and will hybridise with other varieties if planted close by. However, collecting and planting seeds will not guarantee the same characteristics as the parent plants. If this is not crucial, then it is fun to see what appears the following year. To reproduce the parent plant it is necessary to propagate by sub-division of the rhizomatous root once the plant is established. With either method it is easy to establish clumps around a garden.

Mixed Hellebores combine well with crocuses, snowdrops, Scillas and leafy plants such as winter-flowering Bergenia which, with its large leaves, also provides foliage texture as well as changing foliage colour in some varieties.

Long-flowering Hellebores look best when growing in clumps, alongside other plants that may come and go during the winter / spring flowering period. So, it is worth thinking about how large the drift of colour should be (depending on the sized of your flowerbed) and also the successional ebb and flow of plants in terms of size, colour, structure and foliage. It can be difficult to visualise the dynamics of this, which is why I created SeeHow, to help me ‘see how’ the selected plants would appear, next to each other, over time.

For great foliage, one of my favourite plants is the evergreen Bergenia. If left to establish itself, it can provide superb and reliable ground cover, offering a variety of foliage colours and there are winter-flowering varieties too.

In my wandering walks, I’m always on the lookout for plants that have had time to establish themselves – to see their true character. Natural verges are great opportunities to see the beauty of wild flowers left to their own devices and there is a logic to applying this philosophy to parts of our own gardens if there is an appropriate space. Cyclamen benefit from being left to ‘do their thing’ – undisturbed by over-zealous gardening, which also happens to be good for biodiversity – a win win!

A small area of flowerbed close to the roots of a large tree, planted with cyclamen and then simply left undisturbed. Primroses, hellebores and Chionodoxa (now Scilla) also grow in the same location, through the ground cover of ivy and last year’s leaves.

SeeHow includes many plants that make their appearance at this time of year, providing late winter / early spring colour. Here are a few mentioned in the above text.

As can be seen from the above SeeHow illustrations, bulbs are often short-lived. Because of this, their presence in the garden is a subconscious reminder of the rhythm of the seasons. Narcissus, tulips, bluebells, Leucojum and lily-of-the-valley (all examples from SeeHow) will follow on, seamlessly ensuring borders and containers continue to provide exuberant springtime growth and colour. As the bulbs begin to fade, herbaceous perennials begin to takeover. One of the ‘take aways’ from my walks is that plants look best when they are planted in small groups – 3s, 5s, 7s or more, which are then left insitu to mature and establish themselves as naturally as the garden allows - like wild flowers in the roadside verge. This process normally takes 3 to 5 years, so some patience is involved – but the wait is worth it!

Happy winter gardening!

The above Text and all Photographs are copyright of Wincenty (Wicek) Sosna. Please contact SeeHow (07939 226417) for permission to reproduce in any way, in part or as the complete text. 

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