E
VERY season has its palette.
While bright colour blazes
in summer and rusty tints
characterise autumn, winter
is dominated by pale, icy tones. In
the darkest season, the mood of quiet
introspection is matched by the weather,
which lays blankets of snow and dusts
the garden with twinkling frost.
The effect is enchanting, and
the best way to maximise the
magic is by growing winter
plants that reproduce this
ice-cold colour palette:
white, pale lavender
and blue flowers (the
likes of scillas and
snowdrops); and grey
or glaucous foliage,
which will mirror the
silvery frost and the polar
blue light of the sky.
One must-have winter plant for
the average garden is a birch. Choose
from the white-barked Himalayan
birch (Betula utilis var. jacquemontii
‘Doorenbos’) or the silver-barked birch
(Betula pendula) – neither requires
too much room, and both will provide
autumn leaf colour before the focus
shifts to their ghostly trunks, which will
haunt the winter scene. If you’re lucky
enough to have one already, why not
amplify its cold beauty by sending
a winter-flowering clematis (such as
C. cirrhosa ‘Jingle Bells’) up it; or plant
clumps of snowdrops at its feet.White as snow
If you have space in
an informal part of
the garden, the bramble
Rubus cockburnianus,
has stems that glow
white in winter. Or
simply slot small, white-
flowering plants – crocus
‘Jeanne d’Arc’, Helleborus
niger, Iris unguicularis ‘Walter
Butt’ and snowdrops – into beds.
Borders can also be peppered with
shrubs that have grey leaves year-round
(including lavender, silver wormwood,
Helichrysum italicum and Convolvuluscneorum), glaucous-leaved stalwarts like
Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii and
plants that retain a silver skeleton, such
as honesty (Lunaria annua var. albiflora)
and Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’.
If room isn’t an issue, the glaucous
foliage of compact conifers will enhance
the winter wonderland mood, while that
of Astelia chathamica shimmers like
silver swords in the winter sun. Don’t
forget blue dwarf irises and scillas –
plant in pots near the entrance and
in windowboxes to cheer the house.
Get these cool customers in the
garden now, and their glacial beauty
will really shine come December.32 AMATEUR GARDENING 6 JULY 2019Frosty favourites for a
When planning your winter planting, celebrate the cold season’s chill beauty with
a palette of blue, silver and white. Hazel Sillver share some ideas fit for an ice queen
Winter wonderland
Where to buy
Avon Bulbs
avonbulbs.co.uk
01460 249060
Crocus
crocus.co.uk
01344 578111The effect is enchanting, and
the best way to maximise the
magic is by growing winter
plants that reproduce this
One must-have winter plant forclumps of snowdrops at its feet.White as snow
If you have space in
an informal part of
the garden, the bramble
Rubus cockburnianus
has stems that glow
white in winter. Or
simply slot small, white-
flowering plants – crocus
‘Jeanne d’Arc’,
niger,Iris unguicularis
Butt’ and snowdrops – into beds.Winter whites: capitalise on the ghostly beauty
of the white-barked Himalayan birch by
underplanting with snowdrops, and fi ll
borders with ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ crocuses (inset)