I love winter gardens, the unusual flowers, the bark, the berries the winter stems then the bulbs. Its understated but when you looks it's very beautiful and sadly we don't plant enough winter colour.
The Witch Hazel is just coming into its own. Look at theses amazing luminous stringy flowers. It's hardy and its gorgeous. The male skimmias are rich with red wine buds and they add a warm depth to the planting. The catkins on our evergreen garryas hang like frozen icicles. Blossom on bare branches of the Prunus autumnalis winter garden tree make it very special winter surprise. Lots of winter shrubs are at their best. Cotoneaster berries, colouful cornus stems.
Mahonia plumes of yellow, Unsurpassable Viburnum tinus currently cover with fragrant white blossom. Climbers too. Yellow Winter Jasmin and also lots of evergreen winter flowering clematis from 'Wisley Cream' to 'Armandii' Always last but not least hellebores, don't you just love them. I do. I plant them where ever I can in my dappled shady borders under trees and shrubs with ferns , cyclamen, shade loving perennials like brunnera and polemonium and little cyclamen.
