HELP! New Gardener & completely confused by plants!

Having just renovated our house, getting round to the gardening, ive packed it with lovely 'evergreen' trees/tropical palms as I hate the thought of not enjoying something throughout the winter.

So when choosing the 'colour' - I chose carefully and ended up deciding on upright bright red 'Geraniums' & lots of them, ive packed the garden full as I loved their roundness, the colour and the leaves for when their not in 'bloom' too....

Being an amature however ive JUST found out to my horror that they will surely DIE during the cold winter if I 'dont'
a) dig them up/bring them indoors or
b) cover them all up - Is this true?!
I cant believe it, theres so many of them it would be like a full time job Id defiantly not have signed up for if id have known :(

So, what Id like to know:
1) IS there any 'Bright' Red plants out there that survives the winter with evergreen 'leaves' - that I wouldnt have to dig or cover up instead?

2) Ive also bought some rather large Lilies and now ive been told their 'leafs'/stems' will go brown and die back to nothing until the next summer?

3) I bought Gladioli Oscar, again for its Bright Red colour and thinking it had evergreen spikey leaves ive planted these in pots - and im told these will die back to the soil to nothing during the winter which again will look bare!

Please give me some hope that theres some 'evergreen leaf' (Bright Red) Winter hardy Plants out there?!

I have the bonus of a very sheltered back garden and a very sunny front garden, all my palm trees do well and tropical plants.

Thanks for all your help (Please be aware I do not have a clue about gardening - as you can gather so please try talk to me as though im an alien I wont be offended!)

 

heuchera georgia peach will be a definate for you ... there are some other red leaved ones aswell

http://www.plantagogo.com/acatalog/HEUCHERA.html

http://www.terranovanurseries.com/gardeners/heuchera-c-82_23.html

 

HiPixiePixie, It might help if you let us know where abouts you are gardening.
I know my heuchera plants die back to the ground over winter. But then we get temperatures of -15. :WINK1:

 

I'm sure there's loads of plants that tick all the boxes, but a couple of thoughts spring to mind.

1. I too like bright red, but if its not complemented by another colour (other than green) it will not look as good as it could.

2. Red is great, but its also the first colour to disappear from view in failing light (or it is for human eyesight at least). So if you want to enjoy your garden while on a night while supping wine on the patio, you might want some whites and yellows in there too.

 

my heuchera looked good last winter, even in temperatures of -18 degrees C and after being covered in heavy snow

there are a few tricks to huechera though, such as how to mulch, and what to mulch with, as they 'heave' in cold weather

they are one of my favourite plants, as they look good for 12 months of the year

 

There you go PixiePixie, we're all still learning.
As for the colour red, I think silver/ grey looks good with it.

 

I love shocking pink geraniums next to red ones, but I don't suppose that'll be a popular viewpoint. Heyho.

Don't worry about the garden looking partly dead during the winter. As long as you have some evergreen interest, maybe in the form of boldly shaped shrubs, I don't think it matters if things are bare. The change of seasons is glorious, celebrate it.

 

You could be lucky with your geraniums if your garden is very sheltered and we have a mild winter but I wouldn't bank on it. You can take cuttings (you need to do this before the first frosts) and then just store those indoors over the winter and plant them outside after the frosts next year.

For winter colour, if you definitely want red you may like to get cyclamen. You'll find them in garden centres in the autumn, but make sure you get the outdoor hardy type. You'll also find red pansies or violas and red primulas.

Have you thought of shrubs with red leaves, stems or berries? A red flowered camelia is nice in the spring. You really need to plant it soon as the flower buds are formed at the end of the summer, keep it well watered in its first year. Make sure it isn't planted where the rising sun will hit it as a rapid thaw in the morning after a cold night will make the flowers drop. Azealeas will also flower early in the spring and there's a wide range of colours available.

I agree with clueless though, just red and green may be less interesting in the winter than you think.

Hope those ideas help to get you started.

 

Thanks everyone.
Ive had a look at those suggestions I do like Cyclamen & Peony - so would these survive the winter, with evergreen leaves?
Heuchera im sure ive never seen these - how bright are they?! I love the big roundness of the leaves!
(Im not overly keen on Pansies/Violas/Primulas as they look too small and dainty for my taste.)
YES that is exactly what I wanted to do with my Gerraniums Hot Pink and the Bright Red...(but that plan has probably gone out of the window now learning about Gerraniums and the 'care' they require to survive over winter)

I live in the UK, Lancashire, on the coast.

I know I could take cuttings from the Geraniums or protect over winter etc but the simple fact is I dont want to dedicate this time. I was nieve and didnt realise, which is why this has turned into a nightmare for me.

I spent all of last night wondering around garden centres reading the labels - thats all ive been going off! - I tried to ask the staff for help but they didnt help me much they presume I have a basic understanding, its so frustrating.

As ive just learned the 'Gladioli Oscars' will die back to nothing I fear my 'planters' will soon just look like gravel! - When obviously I bought them for their spikey appearance to match my 'tropical' looking garden when they werent 'in bloom/over winter'. (These pots are so big its going to be a nightmare to dig them out again)
Will the Gladioli Oscar die back to the ground level?

Also My lillie query;
Id bought some rather large (Tiger/Asiatic) Lilies and now ive been told their 'leafs'/stems' will go brown and die back to nothing/the ground until the next summer? Is this true?

 

Parrotia Persica and Cornus alba 'sibirica' are red in winter.

 

I wouldn't bother asking most garden centre staff, you'll get far more expertise and interest on here than from the average spotty teenager employed by the average garden centre! You might get better service if you go to a small specialist nusery.

Yes

Yes.

You can't expect your British garden to look the same summer and winter, but this is part of their charm. And least the lilies won't die (although the gladioli might) and you will get something for your money next year.

The red geranium question: most people don't bother trying to keep them alive. They can be bought afresh reasonably cheaply next Spring which most people find to be a lot less hassle. That's assuming you won't want to ring the changes next year, you might be quite glad if they all died allowing you to buy something new. How much did you pay to carpet the garden with them, BTW? Great idea, anyway, I'd love to see a photo.

Cyclamen will survive the winter as long as they are the right type. Peonies will definitely survive any amount of frost but will die back to nothing and reappear in Spring. (This is what's known as a hardy perennial.) That is no reason not to have them, though, as most people think they are terrific plants despite their non-activity in winter. Ditto lilies.

Skimmia is a nice smallish evergreen shrub which will have red or white berries in late winter, also scented flowers. Photinia is an evergreen shrub which will have bright red leaf tips in Spring. Cornus sibirica has bright red stems in winter, you often see it planted on roundabouts and town verges. Holly is evergreen and would have red berries as long as you bought the right type. However, if you load your garden with these there may not be as much room for all the fun stuff in Spring/Summer and a garden that looks too samey all year round can be rather boring.

The fact is, you can't expect to have as much bright colour in winter as you do in summer, it's not realistic. Anything that does flower in winter is usually fairly low key. I would aim for a framework of bold, evergreen shapes, some shrubs carefully chosen for whatever winter colour, scent, bark or flower is on offer, keep all the bare parts neat, maybe put winter bedding in selected areas and wait for the daffodils to come up. Sounds like you are already well on the way to achieving that.

 

I hope you don't mind me saying so, but I think you've now learnt lesson number 1. The labels mean nowt.

I've noticed more recently that half the time the labels don't even tell you whether a plant is annual, biennial or perennial anymore, so you absolutely no idea what you're buying unless you know the plant.

If I can give you one tip for future shopping trips it would be this. Completely avoid the big chain stores. Seek out small independent nurseries instead. Apart from paying much less for the same plant, you will also find that the rugged looking chaps that work in there actually know stuff, and enjoy sharing their knowledge with anyone who shows an interest. At one such one near me, I asked the old boy, 'are these fully hardy?'. That was it. The flood gates opened. I was there for a good half hour discussing all sorts of garden related things. Oh and I got the answer to my original question, which in that case was 'no'

 

i'm with clueless on his answer. nursery's are far more knowledgeable on the plants they're selling, and mostly a good deal cheaper. i discovered one not far from me that i never knew existed.

before, i used (mainly) the big centres. the bloke at this local nursery is very good, and he's on the lookout for some plants he doesn't stock from his suppliers and did say when he gets them he's going to give me a ring and deliver free. i don't think in all the years of using big centres i've had service as good. imo, the independents are far more passionate about the plants they sell and love talking (even though your in a hurry!)

 

I agree, so much good advice here. You have an idea of what you want and how you want the garden to look, you can get that information here and at local nurseries.

i agree that books are a better starting point than the internet. The internet is fine when you want specific information but it sounds more as if you want to browse and get ideas. Your local library will surely have books where plants are categorised by colour, time of year, best growing conditions etc. As you're in Lancs you probably need fully hardy plants if you want to keep them all year, on the other hand being near the sea may keep you more free from frost. If you're very close to the sea you may have to think of dryness and wind. Go to a very local nursery for advice.