Plants GUARANTEED to Brighten your Winter
Image: Val Bradley
There are a number of plants that flower during the chilly winter months, some regardless of the weather, others only during warmer spells. Many are highly fragrant so they can attract the few pollinating insects that are flying when conditions are cold.
These plants are ideal for planting near a door or window, where you can appreciate the fragrance on a sunny day. Some will eventually become large shrubs if left unpruned, so the temptation is to plant at the back of the border, but this may mean treading into the border to smell them, which can damage other plants or bulbs.
You can cut a flowering shoot for a vase indoors to add a welcome touch of spring fragrance to the room.
Camellia 'Yuletide'
Evergreen shrub
Scent: no
Prefers: acid soil and part shade
This pretty camellia lives up to its name and flowers from mid-winter into spring. The flowers are red with a bright yellow centre, providing a welcome splash of colour in the garden or a container. Leaves glossy, dark green.
Chimonanthus praecox
Deciduous shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: full sun
The "wintersweet" is one of the most fragrant winter shrubs, with small, waxy, bell-shaped creamy-yellow flowers. Ideal trained against a wall, as it can be inclined to be untidy.
Clematis cirrhosa 'Jingle Bells'
Evergreen climber
Scent: no
Prefers: moist soil
There are several forms of fern-leaved clematis and all flower in winter, with delicate-looking bell-shaped flowers. Ideal for covering a wall, fence or shed. Some flowers may be produced throughout the year.
Correa 'Marian's Marvel'
Evergreen shrub
Scent: no
Prefers: a very sheltered position over winter or cool greenhouse
The "Australian fuchsia" is classed as a half-hardy shrub in some books, but it will grow outside in a very sheltered spot and flower from late autumn to spring. The growth is slightly straggly, but the two-tone pink and yellow flowers make up for that as they are produced along each branch.
Erica
Evergreen sub-shrub
Scent: no
Prefers: good drainage
E. carnea and E. x darleyensis are both forms of heather that will not only flower in winter, but also tolerate neutral to slightly alkaline soil, unlike the summer heathers that need acidic conditions. They come in a wide range of flower and leaf colours - some even change leaf colour after the first frosts.
Helleborus
Evergreen perennial
Scent: no
Prefers: moist soil
There are many varieties of hellebore, in all shapes, sizes and colours. They almost all flower during the winter, giving rise to the common name of "Christmas rose". Like all members of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) they prefer a moist soil to grow well.
Jasminum nudiflorum
Evergreen shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: no preference
This unruly shrub provides a welcome burst of golden-yellow flowers through the winter. It sprawls if left alone, but will grow through other plants or can be trained against a wall or fence, or through trellis so the long green stems bearing tiny evergreen leaves trail forwards.
Lonicera x purpusii
Deciduous shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: no preference
There are two main winter-flowering honeysuckles, L. fragrantissima and L. x purpusii and both produce small, highly fragrant flowers through the winter. Ideal for cutting for a vase indoors. Trim in spring to keep the plant bushy.
Mahonia
Evergreen shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: moist soil and full sun to part shade
There are several types of Mahonia, usually notable for their glossy, spiky leaves and spikes of small yellow flowers that smell of lily-of-the-valley. 'Charity' and 'Winter Sun' are taller forms, 'Apollo' is a shorter plant. The introduction of 'Soft Caress' brought a new, non-spiky form of the plant with attractive leaves, but less scent.
Sarcococca
Evergreen shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: part shade, even drier shade under trees
There are several forms of this small, glossy-leaved shrub, each with spidery flowers over the winter in pink or white. Some smell better than others, so make sure you test before you buy. Some produce suckers and will spread. Responds well to trimming in spring.
Skimmia
Evergreen shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: neutral to slightly acidic soil
'Rubella' is probably the best-known of the current crop of Skimmia, grown for it's showy, bright red flower buds over the winter. The actual flowers are less attractive, opening to paler pink.
For scent, S. 'Kew Green' is much better, but it flowers in spring.
Stachyurus praecox
Deciduous shrub
Scent: no
Prefers: no preference
This is a larger shrub or small tree that produces large numbers of stiffly hanging clusters of tiny, pale yellow, bell-shaped flowers in late winter. Less common than some other plants mentioned here, but worth growing of you have space for it.
Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn'
Deciduous shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: moist, but well-drained soil in full sun
There are several types of Viburnum that flower on bare wood in winter. This one has clusters of small pink flowers that are highly fragrant. Flowers throughout the winter months.
Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price'
Evergreen shrub
Scent: yes
Prefers: moist, but well-drained soil in any position
The evergreen Viburnum tinus comes in many forms, but 'Eve Price' is fairly compact. It has clusters of flowers through the winter, pink in bud, opening to white. Lightly fragrant.