Learn to Love … Colour in the Winter & Early Spring Garden

A four season garden needs plants that perform well in winter/early spring. Spring flowering bulbs are an easy way to introduce spring colour. The crocuses are beautiful right now and the tulips are soon to take centre stage. But what provides colour before the bulbs start their parade? Trees, shrubs, and or perennials can fill in the colour gap between fall and late spring. Here are three plants in my garden that have been adding colour to the garden for months and, most importantly for us on Mayne, the deer ignore.

Pinus sylvestris 'Aurea' Conifers are wonderful evergreen trees that add structure and interest to the winter garden. There is a conifer for every garden. If you have space I would recommend, Pinus sylvestris 'Aurea'. It is a fast growing upright conical tree. It brightens up the landscape by turning bright golden yellow in winter.

Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn' is an upright narrow multi-stemmed large shrub. It has intensely fragrant pink flowers that appear in late fall. This viburnum blooms continuously from late fall to early spring. Plant it close to the house where you can enjoy the fragrance.

Helleborus spp. and cvs. For perennials consider the helleborus spp. and cvs. The hellebores in my garden have been blooming for almost 2 months. Hellebores are tough evergreen perennials that flower late winter/early spring. Now, when in bloom, is the best time to buy them. There is a huge variety of blossom colour (white, pink, red, green, purple), blossom form (double, single), leaf colour and leaf texture. In the wild, hellebores grow in mountainous areas in Europe. In the garden, they prefer partial shade, in humus-rich, moist, alkaline, well drained soils. However they have been known to flourish in sunny borders and dry shade. Two of my favourite cultivars are Heleborus 'Anna Red' (single round rich red-purple blossoms with creamy stamens) and Helleborus foetidus - (chartreuse, bell shaped flowers with unique leathery narrow fanlike foliage).