Time To Think About Plants Good For Autumn And Winter Colour.
With winter well underway its time to start producing some colour in your garden for the dark cold winter months of next year – gaqrdening its all about planing ahead. The GardenAdvice team have come up with a few suggestions of possible plants both large and small for containers and pots of every size
Skimmia japonica ‘Rubella’ one of the best vaule winter plants with white cluster flowers earlier in the year and a fantastic show of berries in the autumn and winter. That is if the local black bird does not get then first. For growing in a pot or container its a nice compact plant easy to prune to maintain the size and shape required. Also responds well to liquid feeding in the summer helping it to produce more berries in the winter.
Helleborus Niger and Helleborus purpurascens – The Christmas rose, seems unremarkable even boring during the Summer months. However, as Christmas arrives the display of waxy flowers and is nothing short of spectacular. When planting incorporate some peat into the soil. Grows best in semi shade in a sheltered spot near to your house.
Hamamelis Mollis – The Chinese Witch Hazels are reliable and colourful winter flowering shrubs, very robust and hardy, thriving in sun or shade but preferring some shelter from strong cold winds during the flowering season. The blooms, spidery and arising directly from the shoots and branches, are sweetly fragrant and conspicuous. The basic species is a good choice for larger gardens, while varieties often have more colourful flowers. Varieties are usually grafted on H. virginiana and should be planted with the graft union above soil level
Jasminum Nudiflorum – grown on a wall or trellis in a pot A popular and reliable shrub, introduced from China in 1844, and widely grown as a climber, with the long flexible stems trained on or over horizontal wires and trellis. It is equally attractive if allowed to scramble freely over a low wall or down a bank, and can also be trained on a pole or pillar as a weeping shrub. The stems are bright green and give an evergreen impression, even in winter when the tiny bright yellow blooms appear, weatherproof in all but the coldest snaps. Regular pruning keeps bushes under control and prevents bare dead patches from appearing
Prunus Autumnalis Rosea – A small winter flowering cherry tree. Flowers with small, highly scented flowers well before the buds break. An ideal tree for the small garden.
For underplanting of these plants listed above and to add more colour you will not go far wrong with the traditional pansies, primula and polyanthus. Cyclamen persicum useful for instant colour at the start of the winter months not hardy but will usually last until the new year in a sheltered location.
With regards to bulbs the best method is to plant layers of bulbs to provide a show of colour for a long period. Starting with crocus the followed by dwarf daffodils and finishing with tulips.Just 6 to 8 bulbs of each all planted in the autumn at the same time will provide an onging display or colour from the end of winter into spring.
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