Creating Winter Colour

Most of my gardening at the moment consists of staring out of the back window looking at everything being watered by the relentless rain. My water butt is overflowing this week so it’s not all bad. The water table will be topped up too which is a good thing after the dry autumn.  In times such as this when it’s too wet to garden, we can enjoy the glorious colour of some winter delights. There are plenty of plants that produce colourful effects in winter.

By thinking about plant form, foliage and colour, we can include colourful stems too.

Even in small gardens, we can make more impact with seasonal planting by grouping plants in borders or areas rather than having it dotted about the garden. These warm corners can be enjoyed from indoors as we sit in front of the fire.

Creating Colour

Although at first it seems an impossible task, creating colour and interest all year around in a garden is an achievable project-with some careful planning.

In the spring it’s easy to create colour with the use of bulbs and spring flowering plants such as forsythia and dicentra, however as the year progresses the two most difficult times to produce colour are between late December to late January. One idea would be to plant flowering plants nearer to the house, this will help to give the impression that the whole garden is still flowering rather than just two or three choose shrubs or plants.

Winter Shrubs for bark colour

Here are a few ideas for beautiful bark colours. You might see other types of bark on your travels and as you start looking you will realise just how much colour there is in nature at this time of year!

Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire'

A robust, low-maintenance cornus is well worth growing for its wonderful, vigorous layers of orange, red and yellow stems. It is fast-growing but with a compact habit to about 1m (3ft), making it suitable for home gardens.

Prunus serrula (Tibetan cherry)

This small tree carries white blossom in spring and bears yellow foliage and red berries in autumn, but it really comes into its own in winter when the bronze, peeling bark shines like silk against a blue winter sky.

Acer griseum (paperbark maple)

This beautiful medium-sized tree brings 'wow' factor to the garden with its papery orange/red bark that peels back to reveal an irresistibly smooth surface beneath. It is a real garden all-rounder, because the tree also has wonderful autumn colour and grows slowly, making it suitable for smaller gardens. It can also be grown as a multi-stemmed specimen.

Tasmannia lanceolata (Australian pepper)

This underrated Chilean species is seldom seen in gardens. Given some shelter from the wind and coldest areas it is one of the most beautiful evergreens. In a sheltered spot with moist soil it can grow quite large in time, but on our sandy soil it is very slow growing.  Enjoy its red tipped stems which are subtle but beautiful. 

Cornus alba Baton Rouge ('Minbat')

Dogwoods have always been popular and here’s a new kid in town. Since 2007 when it was first introduced from France, Cornus alba Baton Rouge ('Minbat') has established itself as the number one red dogwood. Selected for its slightly more compact, bushy habit but still attaining a height of 1m (3ft) or more C. alba Baton Rouge ('Minbat') offers not only fabulous winter colour but has white flowers in spring, blueish-white berries in late summer and a striking display of reddish-purple foliage in autumn.

Acer tegmentosum (snakebark maple)

This is one of the best snakebarks for stem colour with superb jade and silver striated bark, complemented in winter by striking mahogany coloured buds. The stem colour is good even on reasonably mature stems.

Very hardy, but best in a position sheltered from strong winds (as it also has very attractive large leaves and good autumn colour). Ideally the stems look best in a sunny spot but against a dark backdrop, where the silver really stands out. A. tegmentosum works in most soils but does not like ground which is too wet or waterlogged, which wouldn’t really suit most gardens around Inishowen at the moment.

Betula albo-sinensis (Northern Chinese red birch)

Slightly larger than Acer griseum, this birch is distinctive in its marvellously coloured peeling bark. Tolerant of a range of soils, it grows up to around 20m (nearly 66ft).

There are a number of cultivars available and the tree may be grown to equally good effect as an individual or, like many birch species, as part of a group if sufficient space is available.

See more here:  RHS