If you want some colour in your garden right through the coldest months, Alan Titchmarsh has a handful of excellent suggestions for you
The British winter tends to be something of a gloomy time. However, garden guru Alan Titchmarsh says that, with a little careful planning, you can plant a selection of winter-flowering blooms that will provide “little splashes of colour” all the way through to spring.
He’s prepared a list of five out-and-out winners, as well as a couple of recommendations from his own garden – one of which, he admits that can be a little “divisive.”
Alan also playfully recommended one piece of winter colour that he wouldn’t have anywhere near his own garden.
Looking at an ornamental kale, he said: “I know some people like them. And I hate to be unkind to any plant, but it’s a bit of a weirdo, isn’t it? Plant it if you like it, just don’t bring it anywhere near my garden!”
So here are Alan’s top five selection for winter colour.
Winter-flowering heather
A carpet of colourful heather is just the thing to brighten up a winter garden, according to Alan. Recommending the “Beauty Queen” variety, he adds: “Plant them 18 inches apart, and they’ll eventually make a thick rug.”
Thriving well in acidic soil, the heath will also look good in a container, if your flower-bed space is at a premium. If your soil is heavy clay, make it more hospitable of your heathy by using it with lime-free ericaceous compost.
It typically flowers from January to April, brightening up the darkest months of the year.
Camellias
Another winter highlight, camellias are glossy-leaved evergreens, with typically white, pink or red flowers.
Alan recommends the Yuletide variety, which as its name suggest does well in the colder months, or for a whiff of winter fragrance try sasanqua.
Camellias like woodland and acidic soils. Try to find a spot that’s sheltered from cold, dry winds and early morning sun – buds and flowers may be damaged by chilly winds winds and late frosts.
Winter-flowering pansy
While they fell out of fashion a little while back, partly due to over-exposure, pansies are staging a quiet resurgence among garden designers.
Alan explains: “There are lots of summer-flowering pansies that tend to go to sleep in winter, but those that are bred to flower through the winter really are cheery.
“There are lots of them. Just check they are winter flowering ones. They’re that bit tougher and these will carry on flowering right the way through the spring.”
They will really brighten up a border in a sunny spot, or even in dappled shade, he says. But they needn’t be planted in a bed at all.
Alana adds: “Better still in a container where you can plant them and have them close to the house so that every time you come in and out you see these cheerful faces smiling at you.”
Hellebore
Alan’s top recommendation is the hellebore – they’re classic plants for winter interest, although you’ll need to keep an eye on them as they can be ravaged by slugs and snails.
These perennials have a long flowering period, lasting well into spring and they’ll do surprisingly well in shadier spots.
They’re a real garden star. Alan continues: “You can find flowers now that are pure white, pale yellow, green, crimson, spotted, dark purple. So many variations.”
Hellebores are tolerant of a wide variety of soil types, he adds, and do well in dappled shade under and around trees and shrubs.
“They’ll flower in their various forms right the way through from the end of one year to the beginning of the next,” says Alan, making them the ideal source of winter colour in your garden.
Mahonia
Alan also singles out one last choice which, he says, can be a little divisive. He says Mahonia is a plant “which divides opinion but which I love in winter”.
Showing off a variety called Winter Sun, he says it’s “quite tall and angular,” with a “fountain of flowers’ blooming from the top.
“If you examine them closely, each one is almost like a tiny daffodil flower,” Alan points out.
The downside of mahonia is that it can be quite spiky, meaning that while it does have a delicious fragrance, you’re taking your life in your hands if you get close enough to catch a whiff.
One final tip, Alan says, is to be bold when it comes to pruning: “When it starts to get too tall, when the flowers are finished in spring, take your secateurs or your loppers to it and cut it back quite dramatically just above one of these lower leaves. It will sprout and branch and turn into a much more shapely shrub.”
