The top 5 best winter-flowering plants
It’s a shame that so many winter plants are overlooked.
While winter gardening means braving frost and plummeting temperatures, the bright beauty of multicoloured pansies and rich perennials will bring joy to even the dullest of gardens.
At Whitakers Garden Centre, we want to shed more light on our top 5 favourite winter-flowering plants. We’ll tell you how to spot them, their flowering patterns, and all our favourite fun facts!
If you’re looking to stock up on materials for your winter ventures, don’t forget to check out our gardening shop.
1. Netted Iris
Also known by its Latin name, Iris reticulata, this dwarf, bulbous perennial showcases fragrant, deep violet-purple flowers, each about 8 centimetres wide.
Capable of reaching a height of approximately 15 centimetres, this beautiful winter-time flower has adapted well to UK climates (despite being native to regions spanning from the Caucasus to northern Iran!)
It thrives in well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline soils and prefers full sun exposure. But with a flowering period from late winter to early spring, its ability to bloom in spite of cold conditions makes it well suited to the hardiness of UK gardens.
2. Camellia
The easy-to-grow Camellia is a flowering plant that thrives in sheltered gardens or containers placed in unheated conservatories over winter.
These evergreen shrubs are well-known for their glossy, dark green leaves and large flowers, which range in colour from pure white to deep red (often with shades of pink in between).
This winter plant prefers part shade and acidic soil conditions, with a pH of around 6 to 6.5. We recommend planting them in autumn or spring and keeping them well-watered through the summer.
An interesting fact about camellias is their remarkable lifespan. They can live up to 100 to 200 years, with the oldest living camellia, planted in 1347, still alive in China's Panlong Monastery!
3. Winter Aconite
The Eranthis Hyemalis belongs to the buttercup family and is a winter-flowering plant that’s sure to brighten any UK garden. It has bright yellow, cup-shaped flowers encircled by a collar of green bracts, which resemble a ruff.
These blooms, measuring only 2 to 3 centimetres across, emerge close to the ground, usually reaching heights of 5 to 10 centimetres.
They thrive in partial shade and moist, well-drained soil, which makes them ideal for woodland gardens or under trees.
The winter aconite’s early blooming is actually the result of an evolutionary adaptation that exploits the sunlight available on the forest floor before the tree leaves grow in spring.
4. Winter honeysuckle
Winter honeysuckle, or the Lonicera fragrantissima, produces pairs of highly fragrant, creamy-white, two-lipped flowers, each about 1 centimetre in length. If you’re lucky, these blossoms may be followed by dull red berries!
Honeysuckles were introduced from China in the mid-19th century and have since become a favourite among gardeners for their winter fragrance. They bloom from mid-December through March, during which time gardeners may smell their strong lemony aroma.
5. Pansy
The UK’s favourite garden pansy (Viola × wittrockiana) is a short-lived perennial with large, velvety flowers with overlapping petals. They typically measure 5 to 8 centimetres across.
Gardeners can treat themselves to a range of different colours, like yellow, gold, purple, violet, orange, red, white, and even near-black!
In the UK, winter pansies are planted in autumn to guarantee a display of colour from late autumn through early spring. They thrive in fertile, well-drained soil and prefer full sun or partial shade.
Did you know that both the leaves and the flowers of the pansy are edible? They are rich in vitamins A and C and are characterised by their lightly minty flavour.
Shop for gardening supplies with Whitakers Garden Centre!
It’s never too late to get your hands stuck in! Join the thousands of UK gardeners on their winter planting journey today.
If you’re low on tools or compost, we’re proud suppliers of high-quality gardening materials. Do you need a specific kind of compost, bark or mulch? We’ve got plenty!
Replace your gardening tools in time for the winter and fly through your to-do list. Whitakers Garden Centre even offers gift vouchers: the perfect present for that green-thumbed person in your life.
- Daniel Corlett