We bring you a hardy lineup of plants that comes alive at this time of year, brandishing bright bouqets of flowers and delivering a dose of essential beauty through the darkest season.
It’s not all about florals, there are many berry producing plants and even vibrant coloured stems bringing gardens to life through the coldest months. Here are a few of our favourites.
Winter flowering plants
Camellia japonica – The classic camellia, offering large, often formal flowers in shades of pink, white, or red in late winter and early spring above glossy, evergreen leaves.
Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Grandiflora’ – The exquisite ‘Paperbush’, valued for its bare, silver-tipped stems holding rounded clusters of highly fragrant, yellow flowers in late winter.
Helleborus foetidus ‘Bowles Form’ – This variety has beautiful clusters of ‘Chartreuse green’ (a distinctive green / yellow), with bell-shaped flowers carried on sturdy stems, often with distinctive purple edging on the petals. This is a highly regarded cultivar of the species known for it’s prolific flower production from December to April. Typically grows to a height and spread of 30–60 cm, making it a very manageable perennial.
Helleborus foetidus Wilgenbroek Selection ‘Ruth’ – This cultivar is a seed strain introduced by the renowned hellebore expert Will McLewin and named after his mother-in-law. It is particularly valued for its compactness, dark foliage, and strong growth. With clusters of bell-shaped, lime-green flowers this variety provides excellent winter interest from December to April.
Helleborus x hybridus Double Mix (Christmas rose) – Features varieties with beautiful, multi-petalled, or ‘double’ flowers in various colours, adding a luxurious, layered look to the winter border. The flowers are highly favoured by pollinators providing them with much needed nourishment during the dormant season.
Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ – A stunning, architectural shrub with large, spiky leaves and terminal clusters of vibrant, highly fragrant yellow flowers appearing from late autumn through mid-winter.
Rhododendron ‘Bloombux’ – An innovative, dwarf evergreen rhododendron that is tolerant of neutral/alkaline soils, producing pale pink flowers and making an excellent, easy-care box hedging substitute.
Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ – A deciduous shrub celebrated for its intensely fragrant clusters of tubular, blush-pink flowers, this shrub blooms on bare branches from late autumn to early spring, gradually softening to white providing welcome colour and scent during the colder months. The dark green leaves emerge after flowering and turn bronze or reddish-purple in the autumn Height 2.5m Spread 1.5m. Grow in moist but well drained soils in full sun or partial shade. It is a recipient of the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM), signifying it as an excellent garden plant.
Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’ – An evergreen shrub known for its year-round beauty and fragrant blooms. It forms a dense, compact, rounded shape and has glossy, dark green leaves. In winter, clusters of dark pink buds provide visual interest, while in late spring, it produces fragrant clusters of small, white flowers that attract pollinators. These blooms give way to red berries that ripen to black. An excellent choice for hedges or borders. Height and Spread 2.5 metres.
Best plants for berries
Plants that bear berries are a must in any winter garden. As well as adding colour, berries are a great food source for wildlife, bringing birds flocking to your garden. There’s no shortage of berry-bearing shrubs to choose from, and here are three of the best:
Pyracantha – More commonly known as Firethorn, this is a spiny evergreen shrub with a compact habit, narrow glossy leaves and sprays of white flowers in late spring and early summer. Bright red or orange – yellow (depending on the variety) berries follow, providing valuable food for the birds throughout Autumn into early winter making it an ideal plant for wildlife gardens.
Holly (Ilex) – The ultimate winter classic, symbolising fertility and eternity. The vibrant red berries that appear in autumn and remain through winter are a major draw. They provide a beautiful splash of colour against the dark green foliage, adding significant visual interest during the colder months.
Plants with colourful bark
Some plants look their best when their leaves have fallen and the beauty of their coloured bark and stems is revealed.
Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ (dogwood) and Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ are some of the best shrubs for a winter garden, with spectacular yellow-tipped orange stems that blaze with warm colour on cold winter days. Prune cornus hardback in early spring to encourage new shoots with good colour for next winter’s show.
Other trees with brightly coloured bark include Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’ (Japanese maple) with vivid red young stems, and Acer davidii (snakebark maple) with striking green and white-striped trunks.
Birch trees also look fabulous in winter, whether it’s the gleaming white trunks of Betula utilis var. jacquemontii (Himalayan Birch) or the cinnamon-brown peeling bark of Betula albosinensis (Chinese Red Birch).
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