With a little know-how, your garden can flourish with fragrance, colour and variety, even during the colder months of the year. Whether you're yearning for glossy evergreens, romantic floral displays or bushes of festive berries, your outside space holds surprising potential during the so-called ‘dormant’ season. Click or scroll on for the best winter plants to breathe new life into your garden, even when there's snow on the ground...
We know what you're thinking, but this plant isn't likely to end up on your dinner plate. Ornamental kale is part of the Brassicaceae family, which includes regular kale, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower and while this variety is edible, it tends to lack flavour and is more useful as pretty garden foliage. According to Gardener's Path, ornamental kale can survive frosty air and "a chilling frost suppresses chlorophyll production and intensifies rosette colours" – so bring on that cold snap!
There's a reason why camellias have been nicknamed the "queen of the winter flower." A popular evergreen shrub, camellias produce a bright and beautiful display of flowers from late winter to early spring. "There are thousands of varieties to choose from, with white, pink or red flowers," Gardeners' World says. Best grown in the shade, they like moist but well-drained, acidic soil. Plant your camellias in October or November and you'll reap the rewards as early as January.
One of the world's most iconic plants, lily of the valley (aka Convallaria majalis) not only provides delicate white flowers that will blanket your garden, but the most wonderful scent, too. Highly adaptable, plant your lily of the valley in autumn, since the "prolonged periods of cool weather allow for the development of a robust root system", Gardening Know How explains. However, this pretty plant is toxic when ingested, so those with children and pets should proceed with caution.
There's a chance you've never heard of this wonderful hardy plant. But with its vivid flowers and berries, mahonias will provide you with an attractive winter display. This plant will bloom in late summer, autumn and winter and won't mind a bit of frost. There are countless varieties to choose from and mahonia x media ‘Charity’, ‘Lionel Fortescue’ and ‘Winter Sun’ will all be around to add a pop of colour to your garden every winter.
What better way to prepare your garden for winter, than with festive berries? Masses of vibrant berries in shades of yellow, orange and red form clusters all over this evergreen, known as pyracantha (or firethorn). It can make a vivid hedge, be left to grow naturally as a large sprawling shrub or be trained against a wall to create attractive coverage. It also produces pretty white flowers in spring, but watch out for its long, sharp thorns.
This is a particularly versatile evergreen shrub or tree that can be clipped to create a myriad of shapes, from the ubiquitous box ball to a more ambitious topiary. Large plants can be expensive, but by taking cuttings you can quickly increase your stock for free.
A similar look to the common box but less compact and with larger glossier leaves, this evergreen shrub is an understated winner. It has small white flowers which smell heavenly. Plant it near a pathway or your front door, so you can reap the benefits of this scented winter wonder.
You can't think of winter without holly springing to mind. Adorning every Christmas image, this spiky evergreen has a firm hold on the festive season. With bright red berries and glossy leaves that can be variegated, it’s a traditional favourite for festive decorations and it's popular among wildlife, too.
Another deliciously-scented winter winner, this shrub holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit. Clusters of fragrant pink flowers decorate bare winter stems, providing a great contrast. Plant near a door or pathway to get full access to its gorgeous scent. This is a very hardy, deciduous shrub that can flower from November until March, growing up to around 2.5 metres.
This is a deciduous shrub that really comes into its own once the leaves fall. Stunning coloured stems jump out of a dark winter garden, providing some much-needed interest and vibrancy. Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ has deep red stems, while Cornus sanguinea ‘Winter Flame’ lights up with yellow and red stems and lastly, Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea’ features zingy lime green stems.
Evergreen aromatic leaves provide the backdrop to clusters of small burgundy buds during the winter months. Compact, reliable and hardy, this shrub has white flowers in the spring and if female, these will then turn into berries later in the season. It's an ideal plant for year-round interest.
Flowering from January to December, daphnes provide a heady fragrance from their pretty pale pink blooms. These shrubs range in size and can suit a variety of positions. Most have evergreen leaves and while these plants are fairly hardy, do check the label if you live in a particularly cold or exposed area.
Hellebores, also known as the Christmas Rose, are the stars of the season. With large glossy leaves and beautiful flowers, they have been heavily cultivated, with a range of different colours and patterns to be enjoyed, however, helleborus x hybridus are the most hardy. These clump-forming perennials do best in a partially shaded area and peak in late winter and early spring, returning year after year to brighten up your garden.
This hybrid witch hazel is a surprising shrub. After it has shed its colourful leaves in autumn, it puts on a show in late winter. Along its bare stems, you'll find starbursts of bright orange or yellow flowers, which emit a gorgeous fragrance. Hardy and easy to grow, it’s both bizarre and beautiful.
White, sweet-scented flowers adorn the bare stems of this winter-flowering honeysuckle. It performs best in full sun and can be trained upwards or planted standalone in a border. It flowers for a long period, from just before Christmas, offering fragrant stems to be cut for festive displays, all the way through to March.
Crocuses are available in an array of different colours, with flowering times covering autumn, late winter and early spring. Choose your species well and your garden can be blooming with these sweet flowers for months. Try crocus ‘Prins Claus’ for a February display to beat the winter blues. The corms, or underground stems, can be planted in pots or borders. For a more organic look, naturalise them in lawns, especially around trees.
The beautiful bowed heads of cyclamen are a prize in any winter pot, window box or simply naturalised in the garden. Although they may be small in stature, their colour stands tall with vibrant shades of hot pink, bright red, stark white and regal purple. Or if you prefer something more muted and delicate, pastels are on offer from this little wonder too. Combined with heart-shaped patterned leaves, these tough plants can’t fail but bring cheer.
Commonly known as heather, calluna is a low-growing evergreen plant that blooms with spires of coloured flowers in late autumn and early winter. Small but tough, this plant can withstand -20°C. Display in a pot with other winter stunners or in groups in the soil to create a natural look. Either way, they like acidic conditions, so add some ericaceous compost when planting.
A deciduous or evergreen shrub with delightful yellow and white flowers formed in clusters, it lacks a powerful scent but is charming nonetheless and looks fabulous in bud, too. Reliable and trouble free, it does need a sheltered spot from which to shine.
An absolute stinker – in the best sense! A lover of full sun, it's a hardy, bushy shrub which can grow to four metres. Small, delicate yellow flowers with a reddish centre are present from December through to February.
Clematis has wispy white seed heads that look particularly magical when caught by the frost. A couple of varieties in particular flower in winter – the aptly named ‘Jingle Bells’ and the not-so-catchy ‘Napaulensis’. The former is an evergreen climber which is hardy in most of the UK and displays creamy white flowers. ‘Napaulensis’, however, is more sensitive and needs a southern climate, but with this comes a more exotic-looking flower.
Grasses are fabulous in winter. Many feature attractive seed heads or burnished leaves and add movement and structure to a winter garden. Many, such as Carex, are evergreen and offer a wide-ranging choice of colour and shape. They have a fairly neat form as they are tuft-forming and can be used with great effect in pots to provide texture in a contemporary display.
Originating from Asia, heavenly or sacred bamboo isn’t actually a bamboo at all. An elegant, upright evergreen shrub, its leaves turn purple in winter, providing great seasonal colour. They flower in the summer and show off red berries in autumn when the leaves begin to turn.
You can’t think of Christmas without ivy. Evergreen and hardy, offering green glossy leaves that can be variegated, ivy provides a great habitat for birds, giving them much-needed shelter, while the berries are a valuable food source for insects late into the season. However, many find ivy can be a thug as it is an invasive plant that can spread over the ground or shoot up buildings, so be aware of the control methods that may be needed to keep it in check.
Contorted as its name suggests, the twisted branches of this hazel provide fabulous interest in a winter garden. Not only does it give a sculptural element to an outdoor scheme, but it also has pale yellow catkins dripping from its arms, which is another source of delight. It is excellent used in floral or festive decorations, too.
This exciting tangle of silver stems and foliage creates a funky and unique look. It makes an unconventional yet fun addition to any seasonal display in a window box or container. Providing contrast and colour, it grows in a small, compact mound and is irresistible to touch.
With its bright yellow flowers on arching stems, winter jasmine provides some sunshine in the dark months. Usually grown over a structure or wall, it isn’t a climber but looks wonderful sprawling over a surface. Although not scented, it is vigorous and easy to grow, flowering from November to March.
Its name is not an understatement – with its rare winter colour, it looks almost good enough to eat! Clusters of small, vibrant purple berries decorate bare twigs creating a real pop of colour in the garden. In summer, it has pink flowers and its foliage is just as attractive in tones of purple and bronze.
With their angelic white heads nodding in the snow, here is a classic late winter flower. Snowdrops are a herald of hope – that something so pure and delicate can beat the frost and create beauty. They flower from January to March and can be left in situ to multiply into naturalised clumps. It’s easy to lift and divide them after flowering by gently teasing them apart to replant in a new area.
If any plant is Christmas, it's mistletoe. A semi-parasitic plant, it attaches itself to trees and uses them as hosts from which to grow and form their characteristic leaves and white berries. In nature, they're sown by birds wiping the sticky berries from their beaks, an action we can replicate to grow our own. When picking, remember to leave some berried stems for the birds.
Heuchera is an evergreen, herbaceous and perennial plant with a low-growing habitat and foliage that comes in a rainbow of colours. Whether yellow, green, purple, red, patterned or plain, their leaves are stunning in borders or containers. They flower in the spring or summer, thrive in sun or shade as well as being hardy and disease resistant. Heucheras really are a versatile plant with a myriad of possibilities.
With an eye-catching silver colouring, Senecio has beautiful soft, furry leaves in ornate shapes. Brilliant in winter pots, they give texture and lightness to a garden scheme. In summer, yellow daisy-like flowers shoot upwards but it’s the foliage that makes this little plant so desirable.
This evergreen shrub is small in stature with classic festive colours of red and green. Great in a pot where you can enjoy the scarlet berries up close, they also work great in a Christmas bouquet. They're hardy and will thrive in the shade, which is fantastic if you have a tricky spot in the garden. They provide dense cover in the ground and grow quickly.
Delicate and velvet to the touch, these colourful flowers are hardy in cold seasons. Available in a huge range of colour combinations, there is a pansy or viola for everyone. The stalwart of winter bedding, they work great in borders as well as in hanging baskets or containers. Just don’t ask what the difference between the two is; it’s treacherous horticultural ground!
Winter aconite, also known as Eranthis hyemalis, is a bright and cheerful plant, making it a welcome sight in any bare winter garden. With its bright canary yellow flowers and characteristic green collar, this pretty plant doesn't shy away even when it snows. Plant your bulbs in October and they will flourish as the temperatures drop, blooming in early February. Gardeners' World suggests planting them in groups under trees, alongside snowdrops.
Loved this? Follow us on Facebook for more gorgeous garden ideas