Johannesburg - Plants that flower or have colourful foliage or berries in the winter months are an important feature in the landscape.
If you didn’t get around to planting early-flowering Iceland poppies, stocks, violas and pansies, don’t despair. Garden centres carry a wide selection of these and other annuals in flower ready to add colour to your winter garden.
If you want brilliant winter colour in your garden, plant aloes. Their bold form and brightly coloured candelabras of flowers are most effective in indigenous gardens, on sunny slopes and among weathered rocks. Their growth habit ranges from stemless to medium to large. The tree aloe (Aloe barberae) grows 15m to 18m tall and makes a striking focal point.
You might prefer a colour scheme of pink or white with small Aloe “Candy Floss”, small to medium “Pink Passion” or large “Ivory Tower”. “Guinea Fowl”, “Harlequin”, “Tinkerbell” and “Winter Bells” (Aloe) are suitable for small gardens and pots.
The confetti bush, coleonema, can have green or gold needle-like foliage and produces sweetly scented pink or white flowers from winter to early summer. Ericas, pincushions and proteas that flower in winter bring nectar-feeding birds to gardens. The soil should not be disturbed around their root area and they must be watered regularly in the summer rainfall region.
Red-hot pokers (Kniphofia praecox) with their green strap-like leaves and bold torches of colour make dramatic statements alongside ponds and water features.
Clivia (Clivia miniata) with umbels of orange-red blooms flower from mid-winter to spring in dappled shade. They need protection from direct sunlight, cold winds and frost, and are most effective when planted in large groups under evergreen trees, where plants will be protected from direct sun and cold.
With their neat growth habit and evergreen foliage, camellias are popular garden shrubs. The winter months belong to the classic and hardiest, Camellia japonica, and its hybrids, upright shrubs with glossy green leaves and single or double white, pink or red rosettes of neat, overlapping petals, some striped others with a picotee edging.
These old garden favourites stand up well to cold but require more shade than the autumn flowering sasanqua camellia.
They do best grown in dappled shade and where they are protected from cold winds. Deciduous magnolias flower in winter and spring. Magnolia stellata, with dainty white star-shaped blooms, is the first to bloom, followed by Magnolia x soulangeana. This is the umbrella name used to describe a group of cultivars, raised from two Chinese species, Magnolia denudate, with creamy flowers and the lily magnolia, Magnolia lilliflora, with flowers that have pale cream inside petals and purple on the reverse. Magnolias prefer a rich well-drained soil and regular watering, particularly in late autumn and early winter. They can withstand frost but do not like strong winds.
Nandinas have foliage that becomes more intense in cold weather. “Dragon Flame” is one of the best with orange, red and burgundy foliage. Dwarf nandina (N. pygmaea) has lacy foliage and is suitable for a pot or grown as a low hedge.
The flowering quince (Chaenomeles japonica) carries early blooms of orange, white, pink or red on bare branches. After flowering, it produces yellow, quince-shaped fruit (pomes). Still more winter berries can be found on callicarpa, a deciduous shrub with pink flowers followed by clusters of purple berries along the stems that turn black in winter and Mahonia lomarifolia with spiny leaflets and yellow flower spikes in winter followed by clusters of black berries.
Perennials and annuals: Frost-hardy hellebores (Hellebore orientalis) hybrids begin to flower in early winter. These long-lived, evergreen perennials have fan-shaped leaves and slightly pendant green, pink, wine or white flowers, many with delicate spotting. Hellebores need rich but well-drained soil and a position where they get dappled shade in summer.
Winter and early spring annuals with their variety of colourful flowers are of great value, whether grown on their own or combined with perennials, vegetables and bulbs. They are perfect for pots and hanging baskets.
Grow pink and mauve alyssum with lavender pansies and violas in front of pink dianthus, mauve stock and larkspur. For light or filtered shade, plant English daisies (Bellis perennis) with their dainty pom-poms of pink and white, or Polyanthus primroses as a broad edging along paths.
Experiment with colour combinations. Liven borders with bold groupings of orange Iceland poppies and nemesia and lime-green nicotiana, or mix velvety red snapdragons and red dianthus with purple petunias. More winter colour comes from the green, white, lavender and purple-leafed ornamental kale.
Whether you favour a patchwork of gay, vibrant colours, gentle pastel prettiness, or a sophisticated colour scheme, there are a wide range of plants to colour your winter garden.
Kay Montgomery, Saturday Star