How to brighten your garden this Winter

Right now in the middle of a chilly Winter, it’s easy to understand why many of us are so eagerly anticipating the arrival of Spring. Who isn’t looking forward to the days becoming a little warmer and seeing the garden burst into life.

But here’s a little secret! There’s no need to wait. A little effort right now means that even in late Winter, your garden can still put on a spectacular show.
So, what to grow?

Selecting the right plants is key for a colourful display. If you’re looking to brighten up a small space like a balcony or courtyard, a medium or large decorative pot planted out with a mass of flowering annuals is a great way to introduce a pop of seasonal colour. Visit your local nursery and head to the Potted Colour section where you’ll find a great range of vibrant blooms like calendula, cineraria, marigolds, polyanthus, primulas, pansies, snapdragons, and violas, all of which will flower over the next few months before they die and need to be replaced.

This is also a great solution if you have bare spots to fill elsewhere around the garden. Dot them around established shrubs or plant en masse in garden beds.

For something more permanent, you can opt for perennials, shrubs or trees. Hellebores or winter rose are available in shades of pink, purple, apricot, green, white, and near-black, and can be single or bi-coloured. They look equally fantastic in a bed or in pots, and perform best in lightly shaded spots. Similarly, clivias are popular for shady areas. The blooms are prolific in late winter and come in varying shades of orange, yellow and red, contrasting beautifully with their dark-green leaves.

If you’re looking to fill a larger space, daphne, luculia and Japonica camellias are all great options, as are poinsettias. While they’re often sold in pots at Christmas, they’re forced into bloom during the festive season, and they actually flower in winter!

Native Australian flowering plants also offer a smorgasbord of late-Winter colour. Wattles come into their own at this time of year, filling gardens with glorious sprays of golden yellow flowers and make excellent cut flowers, too. Likewise, many banksias come into bloom, with radiant yellow, orange or red flower spikes. One of the most striking varieties is the Giant Candles banksia, which grows into a sprawling shrub three to four metres tall – and the orange flower spikes can grow up to 40 centimetres long! Its nectar also makes it an absolute bird magnet.

For something smaller, the Birthday Candles banksia grows into a compact shrub (up to 50 centimetres tall) with large upright golden-yellow flowers, perfect for rockeries, planting through garden beds or featuring in a pot.

Other great low-growing natives include grevillea Poorinda Royal Mantle, grevillea Mt Tamboritha, and grevillea Bronze Rambler. All three varieties are vigorous groundcovers and are adaptable to range of soil types, provided they’re planted out in well drained beds.

Of course, one of the best places to source Winter flowering plants is your local nursery – and they’ll also know what type of plants grow best in your climate. So why not drop in, ask for advice and see what catches your eye. You’re guaranteed to discover plenty more options that will help bring colour and life to your late-winter landscape.