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Discover the best winter garden plants to grow this year, from vibrant flowers and evergreen shrubs to hardy vegetables and climbers.
Now that all the warmth of spring and summer has diminished, our winter garden can leave us with not much more than bare branches and brown, wilted plants.
For most, this marks the end of their interest in the garden until next year. However, with the right planning, your outdoor areas can remain just as captivating throughout the colder months, as winter plants add texture, structure, and even bursts of colour.
In this piece, we’ll explore nine winter garden plants you should plant now so that, when the frost arrives, your garden is still full of life and character.
The key to selecting what to plant for winter is anticipation, patience, and planning. When designing a garden, it’s so easy to glorify those spring and summer blooms with everything they offer.
But in doing so, you can almost guarantee you’ll be staring at a pretty sad sight when the flowers have died and the leaves have fallen.
A good garden is about balance, and by not forgetting it’s on display for the whole year, you will help distinguish the ideal plants in winter.
Understanding your winter garden plants relies on remembering one crucial word – “Evergreen!”
The clue’s in the name, but what remains “evergreen” will keep your garden interesting all year round, even when everything else has died back.
Evergreen shrubs are especially valuable in the colder months because they hold onto their leaves, provide structure, and bring year-round colour and texture.
Look out for the following evergreen winter-flowering shrubs during your next trip to the garden centre:
As robust and easy-to-grow shrubs, evergreen viburnums will provide that vital bit of colour and greenery during the gloomy winter months ahead.
Depending on the variety, skimmia can produce bright red berries or creamy white flowers. Either way, you can guarantee some colour with these tall winter garden plants.
Evergreen mahonia offers a rustic look with pointy leaves and bright coloured flowers. Watch out! As this is a spiky bush!
Not all winter-flowing shrubs need to be evergreen. These variations of Viburnum x bodnantense cultivars are deciduous, and yet still bloom in the winter months..
Winter Flowers
When planting flowers for spring and summer, you must leave some room in your beds and pots for winter flowers. Here are our winter flower recommendations to add colour and fragrance to your garden, even in the gloomy depths of winter.
Part of the violet family, pansies and violas can offer some cheer as low-growing, bushy perennials, perfect in pots, hanging baskets, or sat at the front of your flower beds.
Also known as the “Christmas Rose”, hellebores are prolific winter flowers that offer shades of pink, red, white, and purple.
Defined with round, marbled leaves and upswept, reflexed petals, cyclamens are delicate winter flowers that bloom in vibrant pink and white.
Alongside these winter flowers, we recommend the following as winter plants for pots:
Winter Flowering Climbers
Finally, we’ll end our winter garden plants with some winter-flowering climbers. Ideal for attaching to a trellis or pergola, these winter climbers will add colour, scent, and structure in your outdoor space, above the flowers and shrubs below.
With its daffodil-like flowers, the winter jasmine is easy to grow. But don’t be fooled into thinking it contains a rich, sweet fragrance often associated with jasmine plants because this winter climber is unscented.
Producing creamy white flowers on woody stems, the winter honeysuckle can bring fragrance to your garden as an attractive winter-flowering climber between December and March.
What to Grow in Winter
With all your winter garden plants in bloom, you can now turn your attention to what you can grow in the winter. Due to the cold conditions, not much grows in winter in terms of flowering plants. However, you can have any number of hardy vegetables, such as:
Alongside all this veg, you can also grow leafy greens and herbs, such as:
Perfect Your Plants in Winter with Instant Scenery
At Instant Scenery, we provide professional gardening services in Worcestershire to ensure you can take pleasure in your garden throughout the year.
Whether you’re looking to utilise our garden design or plant sales expertise to achieve the right balance of winter plants, or need general maintenance to keep everything neat and healthy, we’re here to help.
Let us take the hard work out of gardening so you can take a turn around your grounds and enjoy the results. For monthly information and plant availability lists, email us at info@instantscenery.co.uk. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.
