Rob Barrett writes
The cooler weather has started me thinking about winter and how dreary
the garden was last winter. Maybe it's a part of the natural order
that I should just learn to appreciate, but I'm trying to think up some
ways to add a little life.

Last year was pretty bleak with the vegetables all gone, the clematis a
tangle of dead-looking vines, the weigela completely bare, etc. The
only color anywhere was the hips on the dog rose (which we were
planning on harvesting for jam this year).

I have a little more hope for this year because I've got brussels
sprouts and purple sprouting broccoli for a little life, but I'm
wondering what else I can do.

I'm open to all suggestions, but I was terribly jealous of everyone
else's primulas when they bloomed in the late winter while I was still
waiting for my tulips and daffodils. Not having much extra room, I was
wondering if it is possible to interplant primulas with something else?
I was thinking of putting them under a 1.5-2.0m weigela (abel carriere,
I think) since it is completely bare when they would be blooming. But
since it gets completely full during the summer, I didn't know if they
would tolerate so much shade.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Primulas - certainly primroses - aren't particularly fussed by shade,
but they don't like being dry, so the dry soil under a shrub might be a
problem.
Cyclamen? - OK in dry shade - C hederiolium for autumn, C coum for
spring.

Think hard about your existing shrubs and whether they really pull their
weight when they're not actually in flower. For winter, look at coloured
bark as well as berries, and include a few evergreens. For bark there is
the obvious dogweed, but also the smaller willows and various birches.
Also things like Hamamelis (witch hazel) with bright yellow flowers in
winter, and Viburnum bodnantense for scented flowers all through winter.

Of bulbs, species crocus, snowdrops and winter aconite are earlier than
tulips, and there are species and varieties of daffodils which are
earlier than others.

--
Kay