Winter plants

Article by: Chris Beardshaw
Publish date: 5th February 2009

February is a waiting game in the garden. While occasional days squeeze some sunshine into their short hours, for the most part, the garden is caught in shadow, a tableau of stillness and pregnant pauses knitted together with a jagged framework of plant forms. The key feel is subdued tones and bare essentials, although under the surface, things bubble with anticipation. Awaiting the joyous song of spring to erupt in a collage of colour and shape, the garden holds its own among the permanent structures of trees, hedges and essential evergreens. Creative topiary injects an element of fun, while neatly-cut hedges give order and meaning. Himalayan evergreen Sarcococca - a close relation of the common box Buxus sempervirens - is a hardy, structural champion with ample ground cover. Its slow, dense growth pattern and compatibility with shaded areas makes it a perfect winter shrub. The species confusa has beautifully fragrant flowers in delicious creamy white hues that penetrate the crisp air of the garden. Planted alongside a shrubby Lonicera standishii, the two plants create a mesmerising composition of form and scent. Plants stripped of foliage at this time of year give rise to a different scene in the garden, becoming a mesh of interesting stems normally shrouded by dense leafy cover. During this period, bare branches reveal another dimension of intricacy, colour and detail that would normally be concealed or certainly dwarfed by foliage. After shedding its autumnal show, the Red Barked Dog Wood Cornus alba 'Sibirica' reveals radiant red stems that punctuate dark areas of the garden and cast a radiant glow over the vast canvas of soulless shades. Dusted in frost, draped with dew or sprinkled with raindrops, their bare stems take on a most attractive form, embellished in a way that cannot quite be repeated come spring. Plant it where a little sunlight warms the stems for the most striking effect.

Not all plants choose to retreat in winter and nestled among the motionless forms of dormant specimens are the opportunists of the late season. Many exploit any available space, light and insect activity while drowsy neighbours rest in a wintry slumber. The vigorous Helleborus orientalis bursts into life with rose-like flowers that take the chill out of any cold spell. While the many hybrids of this plant produce voluptuous blooms, winter flowers tend to be small to avoid damage. Most are robust and often waxy or fleshy to enable a degree of protection from the elements.

As with the flowers of the Japanese species Stachyurus praecox (spiketail), many face downwards to protect their cargo of valuable sexual organs. The nodding yellow heads of Stachyurus contrast to its upright, leafless form as its small flower-laden racemes droop like beads on a string. With such a reduction in petal size, each winter-flowering plant tends to rely on a significantly spicy fragrance to linger in the air and announce its presence to passing insects.

With this in mind, winter-flowering plants are best assembled where they are most likely to be appreciated, perhaps somewhere you will retreat for a moment's pause. This may be a sheltered spot enclosed by walls or other vegetation that will capture the sweet fragrances of unassuming winter blooms such as Viburnum x bodnantense.

This gorgeous hybrid produces clusters of delicate pink flowers that emit a scent as sweet as they look to entice the admirer. As such, Viburnum is well positioned flanking a well-trodden path impregnating the air as you pass. The flowers of shrubby honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, have an equally soporific scent. Set amidst lush foliage, the perfume of its creamy flowers drifts over borders to charm the senses of passers-by. Making an excellent border plant, L. fragrantissima would be well placed near a window or a door regularly used over winter.

Likewise the liberal use of Hamamelis (witch hazel) is a must late in the season with a hypnotic scent, one not to be missed. As other plants lie dormant, ready to explode with fragrance in the coming months, witch hazel has a head start with its attractive clumps of highly perfumed flowers. Due to their slow-growing nature, they can be enjoyed in smaller plots for many years before outgrowing their space. For the best fragrance, opt for the yellow flowering forms.

If space is an issue, there are many wonderful pot specimens to enjoy as seasonal curiosities. Skimmia is one such delight, a Far Eastern evergreen providing good all-year-round colour. Variety 'Rubella' is particularly appealing, displaying a host of dark green leaves singed with red. Over winter, flower buds are seen exploding like fireworks. Clumps of these pink wonders protrude through the foliage creating a fantastic display against lush greenery. Scilla, on the other hand, although suitable as a container specimen, is a bulb-forming herb that can be spread alongside other bulbs in generous drifts to create a mist of colour. Similar in looks to a miniaturised bluebell, the Scilla is most effectively used when naturalised in a woody area, protected under the canopies of trees and lighting up ground level in dazzling true blues. Sections of these grown with clumps of bright yellow Eranthis (winter aconite) or crisp white Galanthus (snowdrops) create a magical woodland-like floor under bare deciduous trees where sunlight penetrates and highlights these most intricate of blooms.

The species are frost tolerant and persist through the most inclement of weathers, always offering a cheery bloom.

You will doubtless get to know your February plants intimately since most will require close inspection to appreciate their full beauty. Gather them close and take the time to experience their winter efforts, most are also sufficiently obliging for stems and flowers to be cut for exhibiting in a vase. Admire and smell them indoors and out and the transition from winter to spring will slip by in a dreamy haze.