The Garden Never Sleeps

THE GARDEN NEVER SLEEPS

In winter most of the garden plants go dormant, but there is always a few that take this season as their turn to shine in the absence of competition. It is quite surprising what you can find to photograph on a bright sunny day, though often you may need to zoom in close to capture some little gems.
This year it seems we are going back to the normal mild but wet winters with snow up north but not in Dundee, at this moment as I write, but knowing that there could be two feet of snow when this appears in print. So I take advantage of any sunny days to wander around the garden and photograph those plants putting on a wee display to brighten up the winter months.

Flowers and scent

Climbing rose Dublin Bay is on a south facing warm wall so still has several bright red roses to greet you as you climb the steps to the front door. It is never in a hurry to go dormant.

There are also several tubs, planted with polyanthus in autumn intended for a spring display, but which have responded to the mild weather by flowering in early winter and are seeing the year out with plenty of colourful, but a wee bit weather beaten, flowers.

It is really too early for snowdrops, but they don’t know that, so there are several clumps in warm sheltered positions already showing large white buds determined to open up if the sun shines on them for a few days.

However my Helleborus, the Christmas rose, which used to begin to flower at this time has decided to take a rest, as it came into flower last September and October, well ahead of its time. Plants are just as confused as humans about the effects of global warming and climate change creating very erratic seasons. Another confused plant has been my winter flowering yellow jasmine, coming into flower in September, but fortunately still flowering in January.

There are several shrubs that flower during the winter. The wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox and the witch hazel Hamamelis mollis both have yellow scented flowers from December till early March. The wintersweet is best on a south facing wall in a sheltered location otherwise flowers may be less prolific. A more reliable shrub is the Viburnum bodnantense with pink scented flowers right throughout winter. A good variety is Dawn and Viburnum fragrans is also very popular for its pink scented winter flowers.

Down at ground level the winter flowering heather Erica carnea brings out its red, pink and white blossom from late November through to March. It is very easy to grow, great for smothering weeds and enjoys a moist position in the sun as a woodland fringe plant.

Ornamental foliage

Elaeagnus comes in many shades of gold and silver. It makes quite a large impressive bush that is great as a specimen or for screening purposes. It is another fairly easy to grow shrub that requires no maintenance other than to watch out for any shoots that revert back to the green form. These should be removed as soon as seen.

Another favourite to brighten up the garden in winter is the variegated Euonymus fortunei. It comes in a range of colours but my two favourites are the silver Emerald Gaiety and the golden form Emerald’n Gold. These shrubs are all excellent ground cover and though slow growing due to lack of chlorophyll they can ultimately cover a fair bit of ground if you are patient.

Ornamental bark and stems

The winter garden would not be complete without some coloured stemmed shrubs that can dazzle in winter sunshine. Cornus Westonbirt and Mid Winter Fire are outstanding but also include the golden Cornus stolonifera flaviramea. The willow, Salix britzensis has bright orange stems and for a colour change back to green you have a choice of Kerria japonica and Leycesteria Formosa. Kerria has the advantage of a brilliant flower display in spring. The cornus and salix can both be pruned right back to ground level at the end of March to encourage the formation of a stool. They will soon recover and grow away strongly in summer.

There are a number of trees with very attractive bark. The birch, Betula jacquemontii has brilliant white stems and maple trees have a wide range of features. The snake bark maples have red or green stripes, the paper bark maple has reddish mahogany peeling bark and the Japanese maple Sangokaku has brilliant bright red young shoots.

Flowers in the home

As we begin the new year many plants brought into flower for the festive season have now had their moment and other plants take centre stage. All my Christmas cactus are now finished and are getting dried off for their resting phase. However now is the time for our six year old white Phalaenopsis orchid to provide the flower display. It has been grown in a warm bright bathroom with ample moisture every time someone has a shower. It loves this place so much that it has grown a double spike of flowers.

Winter might be with us but there is always life in the garden.

End

The Winter Garden

THE WINTER GARDEN

A keen garden lover is happy to wander round the garden enjoying the colour of flowers and foliage, scents, texture and shapes of attractive plants at any time of year. The growing season produces a wealth of interest, but it is a bonus when some winter beauty can be enjoyed to brighten up the long cold dormant season. There is quite a wide variety of plants suitable for creating a winter border that will provide a splash of colour on any bright cold day.

Many, e.g. dogwoods, are enhanced with a bit of frost on them or emerging from a blanket of pure white pristine snow.

Information on suitable plants is available in numerous gardening books and magazines or on the internet through Google, or visit your local garden centre or plant nursery.

When the summer flowers fade, the last roses get frosted and the few remaining leaves with autumn colour fall off, this is the moment the winter garden starts its display which continues through the long winter months of cold weather and short days.

Plan the garden

It is a useful exercise to make a list of all the different types of plants you wish to grow, pondering through gardening books, visiting garden centres, botanical gardens or National Trust gardens of stately homes or look through gardening magazines to find out what can be grown successfully in your own area.

Consider ground cover including heathers, coloured stemmed shrubs and trees, flowering shrubs, scented shrubs, climbers and some early flowering bulbs.

Choose a spot that will catch the winter sun and make sure it is well drained, but not dry. Cultivate the soil, adding plenty of garden compost or other organic material to improve the soil structure and add humus. My winter garden is based on heathers, coloured stemmed trees and shrubs, winter flowering shrubs and climbers and a carpet of bulbs in layers to add and extend the interest well beyond the winter. Once you establish drifts of bulbs, soil cultivations can be very tricky if damage to bulbs is to be avoided therefore it is wise to top dress with a mulch of well rotted garden compost in early winter after clearing up old leaves and weeding, but before any bulbs begin to grow. I also top dress with compost from old tomato growbags, compost from hanging baskets, tubs, pots or seed trays. These all add humus which not only improves the soil but also darkens it which helps to show off the bright colours of shrubs, then flowering bulbs.

Always check your old compost for any vine weevil larvae which often hibernate in pots but are very easy to spot as they are white with a brown head and clean.

It is far better to bring all the plants with winter interest together to create a display with impact and if possible site the border against a dark fence, wall or evergreen hedge.

The winter season

In past years the winter garden began its season in late autumn as other plants in the garden were going into dormancy. The recent climatic changes brought about by global warming effects have given rise to an extended season for many plants. We now get roses and geraniums up to December, though not this year. The autumn leaf fall now happens in early winter and yellow Winter Jasmine begins to flower in October. It makes a beautiful Christmas table decoration combined with red carnation (purchased.)
Spring flowering bulbs no longer wait for spring but are ready to put on a show from January onwards. These really are a bonus for the winter garden.

The show begins when the tree and shrubs lose their leaves to reveal the brilliant red  stems of Cornus sibirica Westonbirt and Mid-winter Fire, bright green stems of Kerria japonica and Leycesteria Formosa and the dazzling orange stemmed willow, Salix britzensis emerging from the ground cover of the black grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus nigrescens. This grass is quite black forming dense ground hugging clumps that give a perfect background to both the bright stems and also a drift of snowdrops. Now white on black; that’s different.

I did have a black stemmed Cornus kesselringii but I am afraid it was a curiosity, not quite a thing of beauty to warm the heart and soul on a cold winter’s day so it has been relegated to the shade border.

If you wish to try some grey stems look out a Rubus giraldianus, but treat it carefully as the vicious thorns make it perfect for any vandal prone areas. It is very popular with local authorities for barrier planting to stop people taking shortcuts over roads. Another excellent tall shrub is the violet willow, Salix daphnoides which has a beautiful grey bloom on its stems.

Specimen trees

As well as shrubs with coloured stems the heather garden is often at its best in winter. It can be enhanced with a magnificent specimen birch tree Betula jaquemontia with pure white bark in a central position within a drift of gold and crimson heather, Calluna vulgaris Beoley Gold and Beoley Crimson. All of these plants are enhanced with the first cold evenings and a bit of frost. The heather garden must include drifts of winter flowering Erica carnea Springwood White and Springwood Pink.

For those in a more frivolous mood in need of the perfect small specimen tree, I recommend the Japanese maple Acer palmatum Sangokaku and although it is not cheap, it will not disappoint. After the vivid colour of the autumn leaves fall off the bright wine red stems are brilliant in sunshine.

Climbing plants and wall trained shrubs can be grown on all fences and walls to add beauty, colour, scent and a dark background. The winter flowering yellow Jasminum nudiflorum is superb at this time of year.

Winter scent

For a strong scent try the winter flowering Viburnum fragrans or the variety V. bodnantense Dawn, but for a subtle perfume the yellow flowers of the Chinese Witch Hazel, Hamamelis mollis are very welcome. The latter also has excellent autumn colour.

Spring arrives in February

The winter garden would be incomplete without a heavy planting of spring flowering bulbs drifted in amongst the shrubs. The show starts in February when the Aconites, Snowdrops and Hellebore all compete with each other to see who can flower first, followed by the Crocus species. The large Crocus hybrids flower a week or so later, but what a fantastic display they make.

Snowdrops and dogwood make an excellent combination as does the black grass with either.

Maintenance

In March there is always the occasional warm spring day that brings out the best from the flowering bulbs, and then we know that winter is past. Large drifts of brilliant crocus give way to the first early Narcissi and daffodils. February Gold usually leads this group, though in Scotland more often in March. Above the daffodils, the Kerria japonica now puts on its show of yellow flowers for a few weeks, before the first of the tulips, underplanted amongst the cornus push up and open into the sun.

At the end of March the buds on the shrubs will start to grow, so now is the time to prune them back to a stool just above ground level to encourage the growth of strong young stems that have the brightest colouring. Assist this growth with a light dressing of nitrogenous fertilizer, but only after the flowering bulbs have finished. However I do not prune back the Kerria or Leycesteria. These get a light pruning after flowering by removing some older shoots back to decent fresh young growth.

Although the coloured stems have been pruned and the early spring bulbs are finished, it is still possible to use this border for a further show of summer flowering scented lilies. These are quite tall and grow through the shrubs into the light to flower. All these plants seem to work well together without any overcrowding.

The show goes on.

 End