Some amazing winter plants
No list of winter plants would be complete without mentioning the value of winter stems, for which the dogwoods, Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’, C. sericea ‘Flavirimea’ and C. sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’, are rightly famous. I actually love the C. alba variety ‘Kesselringii’ which has dark red, almost black stems, and which looks amazing planted with masses of grasses, evergreen or deciduous if their leaves persist well through the winter. I also find the violet willows, Salix daphnoides group, very useful if kept coppiced on a 2 year cycle. S. daphnoides ‘Aglaia’ has dark reddish purple stems with silvery catkins from late January to March. It is particularly effective as a backdrop around ponds and other water bodies, and is best en masse and so does need space.
Next post may concentrate on winter bark and stems which can provide so much colour and texture. Meanwhile, if you’ve enjoyed reading this then please feel free to share and/or like! Thank you 🙂