Winter Wonders

The winter months can be a little lacklustre in the garden. However carefully you plant your flowerbeds and borders, the number of brightly coloured plants for winter performance is rather limited. But one of the most important ingredients in a winter garden is perfume – it’s certainly something which can transform my mood in an instant. So think scent, as there are a few really brilliant winter perfume plants, and there’s a good chance that they’ll be readily available in garden centres and nurseries right now.

The witch hazels or Hamamelis are favourite winter flowerers. With their unusual orientallooking yellow, orange or bronzy-red spidery flowers on bare branches they look stunning. But of course looks are not everything and the perfume of the witch hazels is what really makes them such an asset – sweet, spicy and wonderfully good at wafting around the garden. Various colours are available, in shades of brightest orange through to rich burgundy. Wintersweet or Chimonanthus is another recommendation. The branches are covered with creamy to yellow-coloured multi-petalled flowers with a seriously sweet perfume. Like the witch hazel it’s quite slow growing and doesn’t need a huge amount of space. This means it’s a perfect choice for the smaller garden, but make sure you consider carefully where to plant it, so that you can enjoy every aspect of its display. If you like a bit of variegated foliage then try the Daphne odora ‘Aureo-marginata’, which has classic purple-pink clusters of flowers, a very strong perfume and leaves that are typically green and leathery but with a bright yellow leaf margin. It can be a little temperamental, but after its first year a Daphne generally settles in well and you won’t regret buying it. The Viburnums may be a shrub you think of as a summer-flowering plant, but varieties such as Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ not only look good but also provide your garden with a sumptuous perfume. Planted in a sheltered spot, it won’t let you down. Mahonias can be a trifle spiky with their hollylike leaves, but when they are in flower their brightest yellow spikes are really eye-catching and Mahonia japonica produces one of the sweetest perfumes you could wish for, from the middle of winter to early spring. If you prefer one with more upright flowers, go for Mahonia x media ‘Charity’. Mahonias are good in part shade or full sun. Winter-flowering honeysuckles are not as showy as their summer-flowering relations, but definitely still lovely. The bare stems are covered with small white-cream flowers, which produce a tremendously sweet, spicy aroma both night and day. And finally, don’t forget the Sarcococcas or winter box. With their small, pretty but inconspicuous flowers they may not instantly leap out and draw attention to themselves, but the perfume of those tiny flowers is tremendous and really strong, making them a great winter-flowering shrub that is highly recommended by gardeners in the know.