Gardening experts have put together a list of the best winter-flowering plants to have on display during the next few months to help brighten up your outdoor space
Just because winter is here and the days and nights are much gloomier doesn’t mean your garden has to be. There are still plenty of colourful flowers you can brighten up your outdoors with throughout the chillier months ahead. Green-fingered experts at Gardeners’ World have compiled a collection of the 10 best winter-flowering plants you can enjoy, from snowdrops to pansies.
The good news is that some of these plants are also suitable for pots as well as flowerbeds, meaning you could move them around outside your property as you wish. Below is the full list of the plants, including when exactly the flowers appear as well as the dimensions of each one.
Winter honeysuckle flower
Winter honeysuckle is a woody shrub that has fragrant, cream-white flowers on almost leafless branches, which are a magnet for winter-active bumblebees. These are sometimes followed up by dull, red berries.
Flowers: December to February
H x S: 2m x 3m
Christmas rose flower
Christmas rose is the first of the hellebores to flower, usually in January but sometimes as early as Christmas. It has large, round, white flat-faced flowers that are especially attractive to bees, above low-growing mounds of leathery, deep green foliage. It’s ideal for growing at the front of a partially shaded border.
Flowers: January to March.
H x S: 45cm x 45cm.
Pansy flowers
Pansies are low-growing, bushy perennials that are usually grown as annual bedding plants. They have large, striking flowers, larger than those of violas, and heart-shaped leaves. The colourful, often bicoloured flowers have darker, face-like markings in the centre.
Most cultivars flower in spring and summer but some have been bred to bloom in winter, offering a cheerful display of colour when little else is in flower. These are suitable for growing in pots.
Flowers: November to March.
H x S: 20cm x 30cm.
Winter aconites
Winter aconites bear golden yellow buttercup-like, pollinator-friendly flowers, surrounded by divided leafy bracts, from mid- to late-winter. Clumps quickly spread and makes a dramatic yellow carpet just as the first snowdrops begin to bloom. It’s perfect for planting beneath trees or naturalising in grass.
Flowers: February to March.
H x S: 10cm x 13cm.
Daphne
Daphnes are colourful shrubs, usually blooming in late winter and early spring. They’re fantastic for small gardens, with various types perfect for different situations, such as in window boxes, large containers, mixed borders, areas of dry shade and gravel gardens.
There are both evergreen and deciduous varieties. Most bear clusters of small flowers in shades of red or pink and sometimes white or green, which are attractive to bees.
Flowers: February to March.
H x S: 1m x 50cm.
Snowdrops
Snowdrops are the first bulbs of the year to flower, heralding the end of winter. There’s a variety of different types to grow, ranging from single- to double-flowered types. Small bees like honeybees may visit the flowers. These are suitable for growing in pots.
Flowers: January to March.
H x S: 15cm x 10cm.
Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’
Popular with winter-active bumblebees, mahonias have slender spikes of bright yellow flowers above evergreen rosettes of glossy dark green leaves. Grow them in moist but well-drained soil in partial shade.
Flowers: November to March.
H x S: 5m x 4m.
Winter Clematis
Winter clematis is a perennial climber with glossy, evergreen foliage. Flowers are usually a creamy colour, depending on the cultivar, and have a delicate citrus fragrance, which attracts bees. As a group one clematis, they don’t need pruning, though this can be done lightly, straight after flowering, to restrict their size.
Flowers: December to January.
H x S: 2.5m x 1.75m.
Winter Heather
Winter-flowering heathers are particularly useful for bringing colour to winter containers. Planted in the ground, these heathers will gradually spread, inhibiting weeds as they go. Popular with bees and they are also suitable for growing in pots.
Flowers: February to March.
H x S: 1.5m x 80cm.
Cyclamen
Hardy cyclamen is a pretty perennial, bearing delicate silver-lined dark green leaves and dainty blooms in shades of white, pink and red, from late winter to early spring. It’s perfect for growing at the base of small shrubs and trees, and naturalising in grass. These are suitable for growing in pots, too.
Flowers: January to April.
H x S: 8cm x 10cm.
