Evergreen Plants

It's a good idea to incorporate a few evergreen plants into the garden to give a bit of winter greenery. There are plenty of evergreens to choose from and one of the best for green and gold colour is the Euonymus Fortunei 'Emerald and Gold'. This is easily grown in ordinary garden soil in sun or partial shade. I planted mine as a tiny shrub over 15 years ago and it has grown into a handsome 5ft tall specimen. It is a good choice for evergreen hedges as it withstands regular pruning to maintain shape. It may need some protection from extreme winter weather but will tolerate the average British winter.

Choisya Ternata (Mexican orange blossom) has glossy dark green leaves which are aromatic when crushed and produces sweetly scented white flowers in spring. I grow the golden leaved variety called 'Sundance' which brings a welcome bright splash of colour to the garden on dark winter days. Choisya has a wide spreading and rounded bushy habit and will grow to about 6ft tall and 6 - 8ft wide. It is pollution tolerant and therefore suitable for town gardens. Grow in any well drained garden soil in a sunny position. It will tolerate partial shade but the leaf colour is better in full sun. In very cold gardens it is best grown against a south facing wall as the foliage is prone to frost damage.

.A smaller pollution tolerant evergreen shrub which can be grown in containers or in the border is the Skimmia. These shrubs have oval green leaves and produce creamy white flowers in 2 inch long conical spikes which are followed by bright red berries which persist throughout the winter. As with holly bushes, you will need to plant male and female cultivars of this shrub close to each other in order for the female cultivar to produce berries. But a single shrub will produce flowers regardless. There is a red flowered male variety called 'Rubella' which is particularly attractive and this would be my choice. I am currently growing a variegated form of this shrub in a pot on the patio. The pot has been placed against the patio wall for protection as I am not sure if this variegated Skimmia will be as hardy as the other varieties, but it has a very pretty leaf edged in cream.

Winter Flowering Viburnum

Viburnum bodnantense is one of the best frost resistant winter flowering shrubs. I have two of these, one in front of the house and the other at the bottom of the garden.

It is a deciduous shrub of upright habit which grows to about 8ft tall. The leaves are green oval shaped, the young leaves being tinged with bronze. Flowers are borne in 1 to 2 inch long clusters on the bare branches from December through to February. These open from rose red buds and gradually fade to pink, and then to white. As a bonus the flowers are also fragrant. When the sun catches them they look like little fairy lights adorning the branches.

This shrub grows well in any fertile moist garden soil and is best planted in full sun. It requires very little pruning. Just thin out overgrown shrubs by cutting the oldest stems back to the base after flowering (about April/May), and at the same time cut out any damaged or dead wood.