Blog: little gems that keep you going during the darkest of days!
It really hasn’t been a bad month here, so picking the best plants for December gardens in the bleak midwinter has been made much easier than usual.
The still, sunny weather for many days before Christmas meant I could get cracking on my usual January tidy-up jobs. Chipping away at these often unpleasant tasks is very rewarding, despite twisting my knee lifting heavy pot. Now’s a good time for sale bargains at nurseries – read my tips on cheap plants.
Best plants for December gardens – the big winter tidy up
Fallen leaves make paths slippery, and the garden looks a mess. Rake them up, store them in bags until they rot down into leafmould and use them as mulch a year later.
Even though the climbing roses are still flowering, now’s the time to train them horizontally and tie in stems. Cut out dead, diseased, and crossing stems, then prune flowering stems by two-thirds.
It’s good to have an area where you can sit in winter on fair weather days. Choose a spot that gets the winter sun (this may be different from summer if your garden is shaded). Have sturdy weatherproof seats that won’t blow away, plus some cheery pots. Fill them with evergreens such as Fatsia japonica Spider’s Web, Picea pungens (blue spruce) and fragrant Sarcococca (sweet box). For late winter and early spring, include bulbs.
I have a lot of pots, which makes it easy to refresh the look of certain areas. Early winter is a good time to move things around and plan what needs repotting in spring. I’m planning a revamp around a sunny area which has become overshadowed by the apricot tree. I’ve moved out strawberries in pots and will start to remove old raised beds for something more permanent.
The pond is always a disgusting soup of dead leaves and duckweed, so it really needs a clean-up. It’s out with the net to scoop out the filth, then leave it on the edge so any creatures can crawl back in before taking it away to be composted.
I thought we’d had no damage from Storm Arwen, but I noticed fungi growing on the old Berberis darwinii. Turns out there’s a 6ft crack down the trunk with only a tiny bit living. A tale for another day!
Flowering ornamentals
Blooms are pretty thin on the ground in December, but you can always rely on the Fatsias, which are essential for pollinators on mild days. My large F. japonica was absolutely covered one sunny day when the temperature rose above 10 °C.
Roses Claire Austin and an unnamed ancient red rose in the front garden are still producing flowers, as is the hydrangea Ninja Blue.
Best plants for December gardens – evergreens, leaf and bark colour
This is where the bare bones of your garden come to the fore and become the best plants for December gardens. Here are my favourites:
- Picea pungens (blue spruce)
- Euphorbia characias wulfenii (architectural blue-green stems – drooping tips will flower)
- Heuchera Silver Blush (silver leaves backed with purple)
- Ilex altaclerensis x lawsoniana (variegated golden/green female holly)
- Ilex Silver Queen (cream/dark green male holly with purple stems)
- Globe artichokes or their cousin, the cardoon (large silver cut leaves)
- Angelica (fresh new growth, large leaves in milder weather)
- Photinia Pink Crispy (cream and green variegation with pink new growth)
- Evergreen and deciduous grasses (especially Hakonechloa macra Aureola)
- Cornus Midwinter Fire (dogwood with orange/red bark)
- Cotoneaster horizontalis (leaves).
Tender plants under glass
It’s the quietest time of year in the conservatory and greenhouse, but my Aeonium has decided to flower! I’m delighted, it’s a first for me.
The only other action of note is the rotting of the outdoor Phormium Pink Panther. I’ve managed to salvage several divisions, which I hope will root properly in a drier environment. I’ve chopped off most of their leaves to ease the burden on their tiny root systems.
