JANUARY – PLANT OF THE MOMENT
CREATE A WINTER WONDERLAND
Add the wow factor to your winter garden with striking plants that look their best right
now. Whether you’d like to fill your borders with hardy shrubs covered with fragrant
flowers, clad a fence or archway with colour, or plant a small flowering tree to create a focal
point, you’ll find a great range of seasonal stunners in garden centres this month.
While a coating of frost or snow creates temporary magical moments, unifying our gardens
with its icy frosting, the excitement really starts when it melts away to reveal winter
displays full of colour, character and charm.
A choice selection of the very hardiest plants put on their best show in the depths of winter,
providing a bright outlook from the comfort of your armchair, and an even warmer
welcome when you step outside.
Gold blooms really shine out on gloomy days, so look out for dramatic Witch Hazels that
produce clusters of small fragrant flowers with petals like dainty ribbons, transforming the
otherwise naked stems of this hardy shrub.
Evergreen mahonias are equally impressive, with golden sprays of flowers forming at the
tip of each shoot. There are several varieties to choose from with different sizes and forms,
and flowers on most are followed by the formation of grape-like berries in spring, giving
these shrubs their common name of Oregon Grape.
For great garden performance it’s always worth looking out for varieties that have been
given the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the Royal Horticultural Society, and this is often
indicated by a trophy symbol on the plant label or in catalogues. At the Chelsea Flower
Show in 2013 the RHS chose Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’ as its Plant of the Year, so if you’re
looking for something different check out this new variety too.
In addition to their welcome colour, fragrance is another valuable characteristic of many
winter flowering shrubs. For long-lasting displays it’s hard to beat varieties of Viburnum x
bodnantense that produce a succession of flowers from October until spring.
And for a shady site take a look at the Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger, a low-growing and
compact perennial whose simple white cup-shaped flowers can be picked and floated on
water in a glass bowl to provide seasonal table decorations.
Winter brings out the best in many plants. While flowers are an essential part of this
seasonal spotlight, many other characteristics provide winter interest too. A wide range of
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HTA PLANT OF THE MOMENT – JANUARY
conifers and evergreen shrubs provide bold forms and fancy foliage. Also look out for plants
with colourful wand-like stems, dainty tassel-like catkins, and the tactile barks of many
ornamental trees.
So don’t shut-up shop for winter, but welcome in the New Year in style with garden displays
that provide colour, fragrance, foliage and form. Visit your local garden centre now to
discover the best plants to create your very own winter wonderland!
TOP FOUR PLANTS FOR WINTER FLOWERS
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis varieties)
Unusual fragrant flowers in clusters of tiny ribbons develop along the entire length of
stems. Popular AGM varieties include ‘Pallida’ (sulphur-yellow), ‘Jelena’ (coppery-orange)
and ‘Diane’ (red).
Oregon Grape (Mahonia varieties)
Choose from a range of robust and reliable Mahonias to provide evergreen foliage and
golden seasonal flower, followed by black grape-like berries in spring. Good AGM varieties
include ‘Winter Sun’, ‘Apollo’ and ‘Charity’ among many others.
Winter Flowering Viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense)
A majestic shrub producing deliciously fragrant pink/white flowers.
Popular AGM varieties include ‘Dawn’, ‘Deben’ and ‘Charles Lamont’.
Christmas Rose (Helleborus niger)
This compact perennial is perfect for a slightly shady position, producing clusters of flowers
through winter and into spring. Also look out for the many wonderful Hellebore hybrids
now available.
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HTA PLANT OF THE MOMENT – JANUARY
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TOP TIPS FOR EXTRA WINTER COLOUR
1. Choose your planting sites carefully. Ensure new plants are positioned in full view from a
window or prime position by patio doors so you can enjoy them every time you look
outside on dull days.
2. Add winter colour to your front garden to welcome you home and cheer-up your local
neighbourhood.
3. Fill patio pots and baskets with hardy winter bedding plants, like pansies and violas with
cheerful faces in a kaleidoscope of colours.
4. Cover the ground under trees or shrubs with a carpet of Winter Aconites (Eranthis
hyemalis). Although dry tubers are only available for autumn planting they’ll establish
better from growing plants, and small pots of flowering aconites are available to buy
during winter. Get ready to buy snowdrops too!
5. Plant clumps of winter flowering Iris unguicularis to brighten a dry, sunny spot at the
base of a wall or fence, and use blooms as cut flowers to bring indoors.
OTHER FAVOURITE PLANTS OF THE MOMENT
Create striking winter displays by choosing some of the following for your planting
combinations:
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Aucuba varieties
Clematis cirrhosa and its variety ‘Freckles’
Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas)
Coronilla ‘Citrina’
Daphne ‘Jacqueline Postill’.
Dogwoods (Cornus varieties)
Elaeagnus varieties
Garrya elliptica ‘James Roof’
Rosebud Cherry (Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’)
Skimmia varieties
Sweet box (Sarcococca)
Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox)
Delightful deciduous shrubs producing scented flowers. Ideal to cut and bring
indoors! Popular AGM varieties include ‘Grandiflorus’ and ‘Luteus’.
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HTA PLANT OF THE MOMENT – JANUARY
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