A WINTER GARDEN
These grey days are made for musing. It has
got me thinking about creating a garden just
to be enjoyed during winter.
It will be close to the house and reached
by a gravel path so I don’t have to
trample over the soaked lawn. It won’t
be a big space but all the winter plants will
be kept here together. There will be a single
seat, facing north for one to sit and enjoy
the fragrance and shy flowers of winter. Perfect
drainage is necessary for growing a winter
garden.
Before planting I will add gypsum and compost
to lighten the texture of the soil and to
improve drainage.
I have been walking past a garden for weeks
with a front hedge of Camellia sasanqua ‘Mine-no-Yuki’
and have been captivated by the fragrance.
This will form the boundary and backbone
of my winter garden.
Within
will be some of my favourite shrubs that quietly
come into their own in winter. Members of
the Sarcococca family are essential. Sarcococca
ruscifolia or S. confusa are evergreen shrubs
with glossy green, pointed leaves and small
inconspicuous white male flowers with a powerful
sweet fragrance.
New to me this year is a low growing suckering
variety, Sarcococca humilis, which will form
clumps about 50cm high. These are very accommodating
plants and thrive in dry shade so are ideal
for difficult areas under large trees, shaded
entryway, between buildings or where it is
cold and draughty.
Wintersweet, Chimonanthes praecox, will find
a space in the full sun, sheltered from 
strong
winds.
The waxy yellow flowers are produced in pairs
along the bare branches in mid-winter and
are lovely picked to enjoy the violet scent
indoors.
Of course, daphne will have a place and I
will include Daphne bholua (if I can source)
as well as the more commonly grown odora varieties.
This daphne forms an erect bush to about 2m
with clusters of large, sweetly scented flowers
to be enjoyed over the next couple of months.
Chinese
witch hazel (Hamamelis mollis) is another
sweet-scented shrub for the winter garden.
It is a slow growing deciduous shrub that
will eventually grow to 3 metres tall. The
flowers are unusual and typically yellow in
colour but I will grow the hybrid varieties,
the brilliant red ‘Diane’ and
coppery orange ‘Jelena’. These
also have fabulous autumn colour. They will
persist for a couple of months even in the
worst winter weather. Chinese witch hazel
flowers best in full sun, but grows well in
light or dappled shade.
This brings me to another winter “must
have” – Chaenomeles japonica.
- the lovely old-fashioned ornamental quince.
I will have a couple of plants trained as
standards.
These will be the spectacular crimson red
C. ‘Riccartonii’ that fell out
of favour due to its suckering habit. These
standard plants are now grafted onto quince
rootstock to overcome this problem. The bare
branches of the japonicas are wonderful cut
and brought inside to open up. Very Japanese!
In the large viburnum family there are many
valuable species. Viburnum x burkwoodii is
a beautiful hybrid with very fragrant clusters
of white flowers opening from pink buds over
months in the winter. Viburnum x burkwoodii
‘Anne Russell’ is another richly
fragrant favourite. Who could be without their
spicy fragrance?
If there is a spot for a climber it will
be covered with Clematis cirrhosa ‘Wisley
Cream’. This is a delightful evergreen
climber with ferny leaves and nodding creamy
bell shaped flowers rather like the winter
roses. Other varieties sometimes available
are the spotted ‘Freckles’ and
smoky red ‘Lansdowne Gem’.
Below
the shrubs will be groups of Helleborus orientalis.
I shan’t be fussy selecting the colours
or form as I want them to seed wantonly about,
creating a myriad of unique offspring.
Wallflowers are a perennial favourite and
now found under the name Erysimum.
The new varieties produce flowers through
the winter and into the spring. 'Apricot Twist'
has a profusion of rich orange fragrant flowers
on deep green foliage. Erysimum ‘Joy
Gold’ bred by Terry Hatch ’is
gold to pale yellow. It starts flowering in
midwinter and continues through to early summer.
Erysimum ‘Lilac Joy’ has soft
lilac flowers with a hint of cream and Erysimum
‘Pastel Patchwork’ is an outstanding
new variety with both colour and fragrance.
All these will grow in sunny well-drained
spots with little care needed other than a
trim back after flowering.
I can’t leave out euphorbias. As the
garden will not be large it will be able to
accommodate some of the smaller varieties.
Euphorbia x martinii is looking promising
at the moment. Its fleshy stems with whorls
of handsome red-stained, mid-green leaves
will soon be topped with clusters of long-lasting,
red-eyed, chartreuse-green flowers.
Other
spaces will be filled with winter annuals
for colour. Pansies, primula, polyanthus and
stock thrive in the cooler temperatures and
low light of winter.
Will I have room for a few vegetables that
grow well in winter? I think red cabbage and
Silverbeet ‘Brightlights’ will
find a spot and also some coriander to have
at the ready for curries.
Clumps of Narcissus ‘Early Cheer’
will herald in the end of winter but this
garden will be still be performing well into
spring.
‘The colour of springtime is in
the flowers, the colour of winter is in the
imagination.”
~Ward Elliot Hour
