The frosts have come and unfortunately my garden is looking awfully tired and colourless. I'd like to inject some year round colour into my borders and flowerbeds if possible. Any tips on what to plant to keep my pride and joy looking fantastic all year round?

Many thanks

There are some winter flowering shrubs - I have Viburnum bodnantense (highly fragrant pink flowers from November to Feb/Mar), winter flowering cherry (white flowers from Jan to Mar), winter jasmine (yellow flowers October to March), hamamelis (witch hazel) - yellow, orange and red flowers flowers from about Feb, Cornus mas (yellow flowers in early spring).

But get get a really good feeling of interest at this time of year, look to long lasting berries and rose hips (for example pink and white sorbus and pernettya, red skimmia which seem to be disliked by birds), also plants with colourful bark (bright yellow or red on dogwoods, stripy "snake bark" maples, warm shiny red Prunus serrula, white and pink of silver birches), and a few evergreens which act as a splendid backdrop for, for example, white rubus stems.

At ground level, Cyclamen hederifolium are just finishing and the flower buds of Cyclamen coum are appearing.

then from February you can have winter aconites and early flowering crocuses.

"rmacdonald" wrote


The frosts have come and unfortunately my garden is looking awfully
tired and colourless. I'd like to inject some year round colour into my
borders and flowerbeds if possible. Any tips on what to plant to keep my
pride and joy looking fantastic all year round?


Here are some links for you...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/htbg/...8/winter.shtml (and you can get a
list of suitable plants on there)

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/...e.aspx?pid=111 (plants list
included)

Of course it depends where in the country you are and what your winters are
like as to which plants you can use.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 09/12/2013 16:04, rmacdonald wrote:
The frosts have come and unfortunately my garden is looking awfully
tired and colourless. I'd like to inject some year round colour into my
borders and flowerbeds if possible. Any tips on what to plant to keep my
pride and joy looking fantastic all year round?

Dogwoods come in some nice colours and there are a few variagated ones
that have summer interest as well. Flower are nothing special.

Plenty of things still have lots of red berries at this time of year and
at the moment I still have summer bedding pelargoniums in flower and
roses. I doubt they will last much longer...

Wallflowers are already out. No spring bulbs actually in flower yet.
Snowdrops and bluebells are visible above ground.

Hamamelis and mahonia are pretty early flowerers.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 09/12/2013 16:04, rmacdonald wrote:
The frosts have come and unfortunately my garden is looking awfully
tired and colourless. I'd like to inject some year round colour into my
borders and flowerbeds if possible. Any tips on what to plant to keep my
pride and joy looking fantastic all year round?

Dogwoods come in some nice colours and there are a few variagated ones
that have summer interest as well. Flower are nothing special.

Plenty of things still have lots of red berries at this time of year and
at the moment I still have summer bedding pelargoniums in flower and
roses. I doubt they will last much longer...

Wallflowers are already out. No spring bulbs actually in flower yet.
Snowdrops and bluebells are visible above ground.

Not here, they aren't!

Hamamelis and mahonia are pretty early flowerers.

Even earlier is Viburnum fragrans (a.k.a. farrerii) and some other
viburnums. Mine is out now.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Some excellent suggestions, and I have many of those plants for just that reason.

Some evergreens are variegated with adds extra colour.

Bamboos can also add colour from their coloured canes. Semiarundinaria yashadake Kimmei has thin yellow culms which get red tints in cold weather, and is straightforwardly available by mail-order - I've had mine in for 10 years now and it hasn't shown the least hint of wanting to build an empire, though it is theoretically a running bamboo and it might be wise to take steps against its potential expansion habits in case you prove to have a garden more conducive to bamboo growth than mine. Several other yellow-culmed bamboos are available, as well as black, variegated, etc. Even "plain" green bamboos are often evergreen and give line and movement to a garden in winter, and bamboos like Fargesias won't take over the world. You can prune off the lower leaves to show off the culms, which I also do on my snake-bark maple.

Winter is a time of strong scents, because plants that do flower then have to work hard to attract the few insects around. Christmas box (Sarcococca sp.) aren't showy, but have small white flowers and smell delicious. There are also winter-flowering honeysuckles, which are less showy than the summer ones, but provide scent.

In a mild winter, my Daphne odora has flowered as early as the end of January, and it is the flower buds which have the pink colour, they open to off-white. More extravagantly variegated D odoras are available these days. I've decided Daphnes are special plants and I now have several, everyone who can grow them should have one.

There are structural plants grown for their shapes which operate year round, like hardy yuccas (which are honestly very hardy), and if you are in a milder area plants like Colletias. Some grasses keep their flowering structures through the winter, and can be cut down at the end of the winter, like giant oats (Stipa gigantea), pampas grass and miscanthus grasses.

On Tue, 10 Dec 2013 11:17:35 +0000, Nick Maclaren wrote:


Even earlier is Viburnum fragrans (a.k.a. farrerii) and some other
viburnums. Mine is out now.


Mine too, (I think that's what it's called anyway; definitely a
viburnum), and it goes until spring, flowering whenever there's a slight
thaw. Also Viburnum tinus is nice.

Cornus alba is nice although our main one hasn't gone very red yet. Some
of the Cornus contraversa have attractive stems (Candlelight and Winter
Orange in particular). Cotoneaster lacteus is laden with berries. The
Callicarpa is usually pretty this time of year but it didn't set flowers
this year, so no berries now.

There are various red barked maples (rubescens, some palmatums, x
conspicuum) that are showing well now as well as the many snake barked
maples (tegmentosum, pensylvaticum, davidii, callipes, forrestii,
rufinerve, grosserii etc) which are beautiful and changeable throughout
the winter and spring.

Also a chance to enjoy the architecture of the trees...

-E

--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

Acer palmatum "Sangokaku" also known as "Senkaku" is perhaps the most famous for its winter bark colour, the colour goes really vibrant in the winter and tones down in the summer. They are rather fussy plants and you have to treat them right, I've lost a lot of Japanese maples, including my first attempt at growing Sangokaku. Though my present one is looking happier than any other Japanese I've grown before.

When you mention A. grosseri, it is usually A. hersi, which was previously considered a variety of A. grosseri, that people have in mind for the prettier bark - and that is the one that is more widely available. However they have now both been reclassified as varieties of A. davidii, though I expect it will take the garden trade a few decades to notice. Hers's maple seems to be an easy tree to grow, I shoved it in some poor soil gave it little help and it has done fine. Some careful shaping and pruning will help show off the bark. It does tone down in the winter.

One of the best things I did was buy a packet of mixed Acer seeds. I now have quite a few acre trees, including 3 different snake barks all with very different leaves, and one with immensely shaggy bark. I identified them all once, but foolishly didn't make a note, so will have to have another look at them all this summer.

On 12/12/2013 10:06, echinosum wrote:

'Emery Davis[_3_ Wrote:
;996347']OnThere are various red barked maples (rubescens, some
palmatums, x
conspicuum) that are showing well now as well as the many snake barked
maples (tegmentosum, pensylvaticum, davidii, callipes, forrestii,
rufinerve, grosserii etc) which are beautiful and changeable throughout

the winter and spring.

Acer palmatum "Sangokaku" also known as "Senkaku" is perhaps the most
famous for its winter bark colour, the colour goes really vibrant in the
winter and tones down in the summer. They are rather fussy plants and
you have to treat them right, I've lost a lot of Japanese maples,
including my first attempt at growing Sangokaku. Though my present one
is looking happier than any other Japanese I've grown before.

I assume that you are referring to AP "Senkaki". What makes it fussier
than other AP varieties? I've got one which I intend to plant next
spring. It's currently in a pot.

It will be joined by AP "O-kagami", and "Crimson Princess". I already
have "Shindeshojo", "Okushimo", and "Beni-schichi-henge" in the ground.
The only AP which has died on me was "Baby Lace" - it was still in its
pot and lasted 3 weeks after I bought it. I doubt I will buy it again,
as it seems to be the most difficult of all AP varieties, being a
witches broom. Did look fabulous, though, so one day I /might/ change
my mind!

--

Jeff

On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 16:50:26 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 12/12/2013 10:06, echinosum wrote:

'Emery Davis[_3_ Wrote:
;996347']OnThere are various red barked maples (rubescens, some
palmatums, x conspicuum) that are showing well now as well as the many
snake barked maples (tegmentosum, pensylvaticum, davidii, callipes,
forrestii, rufinerve, grosserii etc) which are beautiful and
changeable throughout

the winter and spring.

Acer palmatum "Sangokaku" also known as "Senkaku" is perhaps the most
famous for its winter bark colour, the colour goes really vibrant in
the winter and tones down in the summer. They are rather fussy plants
and you have to treat them right, I've lost a lot of Japanese maples,
including my first attempt at growing Sangokaku. Though my present one
is looking happier than any other Japanese I've grown before.

I assume that you are referring to AP "Senkaki". What makes it fussier
than other AP varieties? I've got one which I intend to plant next
spring. It's currently in a pot.


Actually there is a 'Senkaki' that exists in Japan, but we don't have
this cultivar in the west by all accounts. Everything that was sold in
the west as 'Senkaki' is actually 'Sango kaku', which has a more upright
growth habit as I understand it.

'Sango kaku', or any of the red stemmed palmatums, are fussy because they
are very prone to pseudomonas (black spot) bacterial infections in early
spring. I've found the toughest of these to be 'Eddisbury', a British
introduction, but in fairness the spring colour is not as good as SK.

It will be joined by AP "O-kagami", and "Crimson Princess". I already
have "Shindeshojo", "Okushimo", and "Beni-schichi-henge" in the ground.

'Okagami' is a very lovely cultivar, unfortunately I had a big one (maybe
15 feet) that got verticillium wilt and died over a few years. I keep
meaning to replace it.

The only AP which has died on me was "Baby Lace" - it was still in its
pot and lasted 3 weeks after I bought it. I doubt I will buy it again,
as it seems to be the most difficult of all AP varieties, being a
witches broom. Did look fabulous, though, so one day I /might/ change
my mind!

I tend to steer clear of WBs, too much trouble for me.

echinosum's comment, I sometimes don't bother to follow the de Jong
classification, which is not universally accepted. It's easier to say A.
forrestii in place of A. pectinatum ssp forrestii (even if I agree with
that classification) and A. davidii ssp grosseri var hersii is a bit long
winded for anyone! I agree with you, for the purposes of the ng, A.
hersii is just fine. (In my case I really was referring to A. davidii
var grosseri.)

It's been estimated that only 1 in 3 Japanese maples, planted in the
ground, survives...



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy

On 12/12/2013 19:25, Emery Davis wrote:

It's been estimated that only 1 in 3 Japanese maples, planted in the
ground, survives...

Let's see...I've got 3 in the ground, to be joined by another 3 next
spring. Do I /really/ need to get the calculator out? Sigh...

--

Jeff

On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 19:55:02 +0000, Jeff Layman wrote:

On 12/12/2013 19:25, Emery Davis wrote:

It's been estimated that only 1 in 3 Japanese maples, planted in the
ground, survives...

Let's see...I've got 3 in the ground, to be joined by another 3 next
spring. Do I /really/ need to get the calculator out? Sigh...

If it's any comfort, I don't think my luck is that bad. I suppose I've
got around 50 palmatum cultivars (not many by collector's standards, but
then I don't collect these cultivars particularly). But there are time
when it certainly _feels_ that bad... :/



--
Gardening in Lower Normandy