Tower and Town, December 2025 (view the full edition)Winter Stars - It's Time To ShineThere are several plants in my garden that sit around for most of the year just looking green and boring. Now is their time in the spotlight and they certainly deserve star treatment. Many gardening experts treat winter as time to put the "garden to bed" but no, there are still insects, moths and birds that need feeding and winter plants do an important job in keeping them alive. My Arbutus Unedo (Strawberry tree) is absolutely stunning and is covered in flowers that will last into January providing much needed pollen. These will then turn into strawberry-like fruits that will feed the birds. Similarly the Nandina (Sacred Bamboo) and Cotoneaster are covered in berries which is also a great source of bird food. Mine are all in pots so that I can move them close to the house and at Christmas they are woven with tiny string solar lights.
Winter flowering shrubs are weather resilient and often evergreen. Many have a very strong perfume. You will smell the beautiful scent of Daphne or Mahonia long before you see it. A few stems added to your Christmas arrangement can scent a whole room. Find cyclamen and violas in garden centres and bring them into a cool room over Christmas to enjoy their delicate scent, outside they will flower through to March. Winter foliage is invaluable for keeping shape in the garden and providing shelter for wildlife, and leave seed heads and grasses to use in Christmas vases. If you only have room for one star winter performer look at Acacia Dealbata (mimosa tree ) Technically it is a tree but grown in a pot it will stay compact and responds very well to pruning after flowering. It starts performing this month in sheltered places and is covered in tiny yellow fluffy ball flowers, the perfume is truly wonderful!
Carolyn Stimpson |
The garden may be resting, but there is still magic out there.