Bring colour to winter in the garden
What better way to ward off winter’s quiet gloom than by adding a splash of heartwarming cheer to the garden?
COMBINE approaching winter with lingering social distancing rules and the immediate future might seem gloomy.
Yet don’t despair. There is a mass of inspiring colourful flowering plants to brighten our lives.
Get a few on the go now and happy, heartwarming yellows, pinks, reds and riotously quirky bicolours will help get us through the icy depths of winter.
It’s easy to forget just how much colour is available to the winter gardener, from violas, pansies, polyanthus and primulas to Iceland poppies, cyclamen, hellebores and camellias.
Too often these plants are overlooked due to horticultural snobbery, shunned as too common, too easy to grow, lacking in challenge and complexity and, in the case of annuals, the stuff of supermarket floral displays and council plantings.
Well, I reckon it’s time for us to get off the grass.
While some might regard winter annuals as horticultural bling, in-your-face colour with short lifespans, the reality is pots of these short-lived annuals (in fact, most bloom for two to three months) can work wonders for our spirits.
The trick is to keep colours contained and restrained. A couple of focus spots with a fiery explosion of contrasting colours are fine. Just don’t get too carried away with the bedazzlement.
For something more ongoing and refined, consider winter-flowering japonica camellias, currently flooding in to garden centres. These no-fuss camellias come in nearly all sizes and forms, single and double, and are at their showiest from May through to spring.
Seek out rich reds and seductive pinks for high impact. A favourite of mine, though harder to obtain, is the beguiling mid-to-late-winter, bright pink Camellia Marie Bracey.
An American award winner, its huge blooms brighten the darkest corner. Interestingly, despite all this spectacular colour, about 80 per cent of gardeners still opt for white camellia japonicas.
Possibly the best white is semi-double Lovelight with its crepe petals and gold tipped stamens.
Although, for something more elegant, look for Elegans Champagne. Preferring a reasonably well shaded position, Elegans boasts soft champagne ruffled centres encased in an outer layer of crisp white.
Not to be ignored through winter either are Australia’s own grevilleas (Winter Delight with its red and cream spider flowers is a beauty) and low-growing correas (for a burst of brilliance, consider newish Correa Federation Bell with bicoloured red and green blooms).
And don’t overlook winter roses (hellebores) for perennial colour year after year.
Now back to the annual stand-bys. Pansies Nursery shelves are bulging with seedlings and bloomer pots, with blotchy bicolours, reverberating blues, reds, whites and blacks to funny-faced blooms right for kids.
Or seek out smaller faced violas, from which pansies were derived, for massed blooms and longer flowering. Primulas and polyanthus Perfect for pots and borders, these gorgeous blasts of colour come in an amazing range.
Primulas, generally more delicate, scream out romance, with lacy fairy primulas (Primula malacoides) a standout for their flower sprays atop the foliage.
More hardy polyanthus, in fact a type of primula, are packed with cheer in riotous colours and striking yellow “eyes” or centres.
Iceland poppies Grow from seed or seedlings in reasonably rich, well worked soil for a late winter/spring spectacular of yellows, pinks, reds, lemons and whites.
A new and improved mix is Papaver nudicaule Australis (from Lambley Nursery, lambley.com.au) with larger than normal flowers in shades including whites, pinks, coral, reds and yellows.
Cyclamen Sweetly perfumed and an indoor favourite, cyclamens do equally well on a sheltered deck or patio. Grow from seedlings or established plants, ensuring good drainage and avoiding overwatering.
What to do this week
Get in a crop of garlic (corms pointy end up) in a sunny spot in soil that drains well. Plant bok choy, cabbage, carrot, dill, endive, kohl rabi, lettuce, mustard greens, parsley, peas, radish, silverbeet and turnip.
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